Hegseth Expects Some NATO Allies to ‘Fail’ Pentagon-Led Review

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday announced a Pentagon-led review of U.S. forces in Europe, and ripped NATO allies over defense spending and not taking part in the war against Iran.

“It’s a review that some countries will fail, and others will pass with flying colors,” he told defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels. The move comes as the Trump administration moves to cut back forces and equipment from Europe.

The U.S. was expected to discuss plans Thursday with NATO allies in Brussels to cut the number of fighter jets, reconnaissance drones and warships it would activate to support Europe in case of war or a crisis, according to The Washington Post. The U.S. would reportedly pull back about a third of U.S. fighter jets and strategic bombers, sending the alliance scrambling to fill the gaps.

The review, Hegseth said, would take up to six months to “examine America’s force posture and basing in Europe” and ensure NATO allies are “moving fast and irreversibly” to take primary responsibility for the defense of Europe. Hegseth said the review would involve U.S. European Command and consultations with Congress and allies.

The plans offer a test for Congress, where the Trump administration’s recent reshuffling of thousands of troops in Europe has been a friction point. U.S. lawmakers from both parties moved in recent days to complicate the administration’s effort to pull back forces.

Lawmakers in both parties swiftly pushed back at the emerging plans.

“The administration continues to do unilateral force reductions in Europe while Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine and threatening the Baltics,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Nebraska), the co-chair of the House Baltic Caucus, said in a statement to NOTUS. “Our actions further destabilize Europe. Weakness invites more aggression. The vast majority in Congress will oppose.”

Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, the top Democrat on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, said the drawdown plans are ignoring Congress, and he’s fielded complaints from international allies, who he called “gravely concerned.” The move, he said, would embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The loss of U.S. strategic bombers would be an “exceptionally difficult” gap for allies to fill because NATO’s posture has long been built around American forces.

“They have put more equipment in the field, but in the middle of an active hot war on the eastern frontier of Europe,” Coons said. “It sends one heck of a signal, both to encourage Putin and Xi for us to unilaterally withdraw strategic assets from Europe, to even contemplate withdrawal of strategic assets from Europe that have been there for decades.”

The Trump administration ordered 5,000 troops to be pulled from Germany in May following friction with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the war with Iran. A few weeks later, Trump said he would send 5,000 additional troops to Poland.Since then, the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act for next year would require the chair of the Joint Chiefs and the commander of U.S. European Command to conduct an independent risk assessment of any proposed changes to troop levels in Europe.

The bill would also require the Pentagon to notify Congress and provide an assessment of the impact on NATO deterrence and defense requirements before reducing permanent or rotational troop deployments in a NATO country. It would also bar the Pentagon from relinquishing land or U.S. command of the Supreme Allied Commander Europe position — or removing any of the Army’s prepositioned stocks from Europe.

The House version included provisions that would extend minimum U.S. troop levels on the continent mandated by last year’s NDAA and require justification before major drawdowns.

Congress already passed legislation that bars a president from drawing down U.S. forces on the continent below 76,000 without congressional authorization. There are between 80,000 and 85,000 U.S. service members deployed to European posts, though only 65,000 are permanently assigned there.