Critics have asserted that the proposal sought to manipulate President Trump by appealing to his perceived narcissism, and may have succeeded in obtaining favorable treatment.

[1] In September 2018, president of Poland, Andrzej Duda visited Washington, D.C. to meet Donald Trump, where he first publicly broached the idea of an expanded American presence in the country.

[1][2] During a press conference in the East Room of the White House, Duda stated: I would very much like for us to set up permanent American bases in Poland, which we would call "Fort Trump."

[5] Critics have asserted that the proposal was an effort at "[p]laying to the U.S. commander-in-chief's narcissism", and described Donald Trump as "visibly flattered" by the suggestion,[6] and "gloating at the idea".

[4] An editorial in The Washington Post proposed that the offer to name the fort after Trump "may have won the Polish government some sympathetic words from the president at the United Nations".