BRUSSELS (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a stern message to NATO allies on Thursday, announcing a forthcoming six-month assessment by the Pentagon. This evaluation will focus on the deployment of American forces in Europe, with its findings contingent on the pace at which European nations assume responsibility for their own security.
“This is not just any review,” Hegseth emphasized. “It is intended to ensure that NATO is swiftly and decisively moving toward a scenario where Europe is at the forefront, taking the lead in its own defense,” he relayed to NATO officials gathered in Brussels.
Hegseth expressed strong criticism towards European allies for their reluctance to grant U.S. forces access to European bases for operations against Iran, labeling the situation as “disgraceful.”
“These allies compromise the safety of America’s servicemen and women by denying them the consistent access, basing, and overflight rights that should never have been in doubt,” he asserted.
Beginning his address at the meeting, Hegseth also criticized European policies on migration and gender equality, echoing sentiments previously expressed by Vice President JD Vance in February of the preceding year, which had sparked discontent among Europeans.
“Instead of tanks and fighters and air defenses, the focus has been on gender equity and climate change and defense austerity. Europe’s borders flew wide open, welfare states expanded, defense budgets cratered. Along with Europe’s belief in itself and its civilization,” Hegseth said.
Hegseth’s comments largely mischaracterized European policies today. On defense, European allies and Canada have launched an unprecedented effort to boost defense spending and expand their armed forces. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte noted on Thursday that they spent $90 billion more on defense last year, a 20% increase over 2024. And while Europe accepted large numbers of migrants and asylum seekers more than a decade ago, most countries have tightened their borders since.
The Trump administration now wants a reboot of the 32-nation organization to turn it into a “NATO 3.0” capable of deterring any threat, Hegseth said.
Hegseth’s remarks came a few weeks after the United States told its allies that it would no longer supply certain warships and aircraft if one of them comes under attack. European allies and Canada are trying to work out how to plug the gaps.
NATO’s supreme allied commander, an American, is working on backup plans to defend Europe after the U.S. signaled on June 3 that it would no longer supply an aircraft carrier and support ships, aerial refueling planes and dozens of fighter jets, among other military assets, in a crisis.
The Trump administration insists that it needs to be able to plan for two simultaneous conflicts and wants more military resources at hand should a conflict break out with China in the Indo-Pacific region.
Under NATO’s collective security guarantee – Article 5 of its founding treaty – the 32 allies pledge that an attack on one of them will be considered an attack on all. It does not oblige them to provide military support, although many likely would.
In essence, the United States is scaling back how it might help should an ally trigger Article 5. The U.S. has by far NATO’s biggest armed forces. It does not intend to withdraw its nuclear weapons in Europe, which are key to NATO’s deterrence.
To underscore that point, NATO’s Nuclear Planning Group issued its first statement in 19 years after it had assembled at Thursday’s meeting.
In the statement, it “recalled that the strategic nuclear forces of the Alliance remain the supreme guarantee of Allied security and underpin NATO’s extended deterrence architecture.”
The ministers “agreed to continue enhancing NATO’s nuclear deterrence mission by modernizing NATO’s nuclear capabilities, strengthening its nuclear planning capacity, and adapting to achieve its security interests.”