By Daniel Michaels and Michael R. Gordon
BRUSSELS -- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ratcheted up pressure on European NATO allies, warning that the U.S. will review its military presence on the continent and would cut its payments to the alliance's operating budget if Europeans didn't meet their commitment to boost military spending.
In a confrontational address Thursday at the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Hegseth said the Pentagon was launching an assessment that would last as long as six months, to "examine America's force posture and basing in Europe."
Since President Trump returned to the White House, the U.S. has pushed Europe to assume more responsibility for its own nonnuclear defense while the U.S. maintains its nuclear umbrella over the 32-country alliance.
The Pentagon recently announced cutbacks to its troop presence in Europe and reduced commitments to alliance battle plans in the event of a war. Those moves have drawn criticism from U.S. lawmakers, including leading Republicans who have complained that they weren't consulted and have promised to resist further cuts.
Allied military spending is set to be a central focus of the alliance's annual summit in Ankara, Turkey, next month.
"Make no mistake about it -- this will be a real review," Hegseth said at the opening of a twice-yearly gathering of NATO defense chiefs. "It will be designed to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defense of Europe."
U.S. officials said the review is likely to be led by Air Force Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the NATO commander and top U.S. military officer in Europe. That has eased concerns that the review will be used by Hegseth and his top policy aide, Elbridge Colby, to ram through much deeper cuts in the American military presence on the continent.
Sen. Roger Wicker, the Mississippi Republican who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, said NATO supporters had been bracing themselves for the possibility that Hegseth might announce deeper troop cuts on Thursday.
"There's nothing wrong with reviewing our posture," Wicker said. "To the extent that no drawdowns were announced, it was a relief to some people."
Hegseth said that if allies don't move resolutely toward a new target of spending 5% of gross domestic product on defense, agreed at NATO's summit last summer, the U.S. would cut its contribution to the organization's funding. The U.S. currently contributes 14.9% of the annual budget of roughly $5.75 billion, according to NATO. That proportion was reduced in recent years as a result of U.S. pressure, from 22% a decade ago.
"Going forward, our annual NATO dues will be contingent on other countries meeting their defense-spending targets," Hegseth said. "Where other allies do not spend with urgency, our dues contributions will go down. NATO will be a two-way street."
In a closed-door session following the opening statements, allies enumerated how they were working to meet spending commitments, Hegseth said later. Some allies also urged Hegseth during the meeting to avoid public threats of force cuts because it could undermine NATO's deterrence and help Russia, according to a person familiar with the discussion.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who has worked to convince the administration that European countries are boosting spending, said after the meeting that Hegseth was right to call for a more energetic adoption of responsibility by Europeans.
Hegseth "is keeping the pressure on," said Rutte. "I'm happy he does this."
Rutte said NATO is undergoing a massive transformation, acknowledging that "there are some rough waters" and that the alliance is in "a rocky phase now."
Focusing on one of the rockier issues in the morning meeting, Hegseth said the administration would press NATO allies to ensure U.S. forces have access to bases throughout the alliance and would be able to cross alliance territory when the U.S. carries out military operations in other parts of the world.
Trump "gave our allies a test: to support America when we asked for their help," Hegseth said. "And too many failed it."
While the U.K. made an airfield available for U.S. bombers in the war with Iran, Spain banned the use of its installations for the American military campaign against Tehran. The Trump administration didn't consult European nations before striking Iran.
Hegseth's stance is likely to face opposition from U.S. lawmakers, including ranking Republicans who have long supported the NATO alliance. They sharply criticized the Trump administration's decision in May to cancel the deployment of an armored brigade to Poland, arguing that there has been no easing of the potential Russian military threat to Europe.
Republican and Democrat lawmakers have also sought to avert further U.S. cuts by inserting provisions in military spending legislation for 2027 that would make it harder to further reduce troops or remove stocks of U.S. weapons and munitions from Europe.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) said Wednesday that European allies have made significant progress in boosting the level of their military spending and cautioned against making further cuts, including at the Ankara summit, which Trump is expected to attend.
"I believe the United States has led by example, by virtue of what we've invested as a percentage of our GDP," Tillis said in an appearance at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington, D.C. "What we don't want to have in Ankara is some discussion of us reducing our commitment to NATO."
One focus of Congressional concern has been the Trump's administration decision to significantly cut back the U.S. air and naval forces that would be earmarked for Europe in the event of a crisis.
Many military experts have long argued that the U.S. should shift more of its military effort to the Pacific while European nations pick up the slack in Europe. But the Pentagon cutbacks are to take effect immediately and don't provide time for a transition.
"The question yesterday came up: Is this immediate or not? It is immediate," Rutte said Thursday.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D., N.H.) said Russia's partnership with China and North Korea underscored the risks for the U.S. and its allies and urged Western nations to address those dangers cooperatively.
"Clearly, there's still a threat," she said in remarks Wednesday to the Atlantic Council.
Write to Daniel Michaels at Dan.Michaels@wsj.com and Michael R. Gordon at michael.gordon@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 18, 2026 16:12 ET (20:12 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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