Overview
- On Thursday, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a six‑month Pentagon review of American troop levels, basing and overflight rights across Europe to assess where U.S. forces should be stationed and when they might be reduced or shifted.
- Hegseth publicly rebuked some allies for denying U.S. access during the war in Iran and said assured base access would be a core part of the posture review.
- The United States has already moved to withdraw roughly 5,000 troops and has scaled back certain high‑end assets assigned to NATO crisis planning, including fighter and refueling aircraft, maritime platforms and carrier‑group support.
- Hegseth warned that future U.S. contributions to NATO’s common funds will be tied to whether allies meet defense spending and readiness targets, and he framed the effort as part of a push for a ‘NATO 3.0’ in which Europe assumes primary conventional defense responsibilities.
- NATO leaders sought to manage fallout by saying Europeans are stepping up to fill capability gaps and the alliance’s Nuclear Planning Group issued a rare statement reaffirming nuclear deterrence as summit preparations continue for the July gathering in Ankara.