Zack Polanski says UK should review presence of US troops and bases

Green Party leader Zack Polanski says we should reassess US troops’ presence of the UK. And we should review whether to close the 13 US military bases too. Polanski was doubling down on comments he made on 19 January.

There are currently around 10,000 American troops based in Britain.

The Green’s leader spoke to the Guardian podcast at a time when the US is becoming increasingly aggressive. Donald Trump already kidnapped Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro so far in January and is now threatening to annex Greenland.

He said the UK’s security should not be subject to Trump’s mood:

I think it’s pretty worrying that we’ve allowed ourselves to become so reliant on American interests, and that a lot of this depends on if Donald Trump is in a good mood or not.

He called for a full review into US military presence on UK soil:

We should be reviewing US bases on UK soil, and actually looking at a genuine strategic defence review.

Polanski says Trump is dangerous

The Guardian tried to draw him on Russia and Ukraine, asking if Trump or Russian leader Vladimir Putin was a bigger threat:

 I do think Donald Trump is dangerous. I think Vladimir Putin has clearly done more.

He continued:

But then we can talk about Donald Trump’s complicity or active enabling of [Benjamin] Netanyahu and the genocide in Gaza. None of these things are OK and I think it’s not about comparing things.

Polanski has previously been critical of NATO, even suggesting a new alliance was needed. In May 2025 he told Byline Times:

Clearly NATO has got a lot more complex since Donald Trump has become President, and I don’t think anyone should consider him a reliable ally…

I think the age of NATO is now fully over.

Asked by the Guardian if the US-led pact could be reformed, Polanski said:

Donald Trump has so much domination within Nato that I don’t believe it’s possible to reform Nato from within.

On nuclear arms, he insisted the way forward was diplomacy:

If we’re not willing to have conversations about peace and diplomacy – that part of those conversations look at everyone denuclearising – then what are we doing here?

Adding:

We need to make sure that the people we are reliant on are reliable allies, and Donald Trump is certainly not that.

Polanski’s criticism of NATO has rattled the political centre and right, who remain committed to the cold war alliance – apparently at any cost. But nobody can accuse him of being inconsistent. The Green leader has repeatedly advanced a nuanced argument about the true nature and usefulness of the bloc – and the dangers of having Donald Trump effectively in charge of it.

Featured image via the Canary