The Pentagon will begin a six-month review of U.S. troop levels and military bases in Europe, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday during a meeting of NATO defense ministers. The announcement came just after he sharply criticized some allies for what he described as “shameful” inaction during the Iran war.
Although Hegseth did not identify any countries by name, he said certain allies had both condemned the U.S. military campaign against Iran and refused to allow American forces to use some European bases to launch aircraft or ships.
“It’s shameful,” Hegseth said. “These allies, they put America’s sons and daughters, our sons and daughters, at risk by denying them the predictable access facing overflight that never should have been in question at all.”
He argued that those tensions help explain why the Pentagon is moving forward with what he called a “NATO 3.0” review, a broader reassessment of the U.S. military footprint in Europe that he said could be completed within six months or sooner.
The NATO 3.0 concept was introduced in February by Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby, who said European nations should assume the leading role in the continent’s conventional defense. On Thursday, Hegseth framed the effort as a break from what he called “NATO 2.0,” describing that period as “an era of freeriding.”
The timing of the review is notable. It comes ahead of next month’s NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, where President Trump is expected to attend, and amid bipartisan unease on Capitol Hill over recent reductions in U.S. troop deployments across Europe.
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His announcement of the review of U.S. forces in Europe comes ahead of the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, next month, which President Trump is expected to attend. It also comes amid bipartisan concerns on Capitol Hill over recent troop withdrawals from the continent.
In May, the Pentagon announced the withdrawal of 5,000 troops from Germany. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, the GOP chairmen of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, released a statement saying they were “concerned” by the decision.
“Any significant change to the U.S. force posture in Europe warrants a deliberate review process and close coordination with Congress and our allies,” Wicker and Rogers wrote.
The Pentagon also reduced the number of brigade combat teams assigned to Europe, a move that also took some members of Congress by surprise.
During a House Armed Services Committee hearing, GOP Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia told Army leaders that “these are major decisions that appear to many of the members of this committee to be last-minute decisions.”
There are currently about 80,000 U.S. troops in Europe. Congress has already required the Pentagon to submit a plan before cutting forces below 76,000. The Senate Armed Service Committee’s draft version of this year’s defense policy bill, known as the NDAA, would add an additional check.
The current bill, which was voted out of the committee last week, would require the defense secretary to submit an assessment of the impact of any drawdown 120 days before implementing it.
In his announcement of the review, Hegseth said some allies were committed to “freeriding” on America’s support because they were not showing tangible progress towards spending 5% of GDP on defense by 2035, a target NATO established during last year’s summit in The Hague.
Estimates released by NATO earlier this year showed 31 of the 32 member countries spent 2% of GDP on defense in 2025, an increase from 18 that did so in 2024. President Trump repeatedly pushed NATO allies to meet the 2% target during his first administration.
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, a co-chair of the Senate NATO Observer Group, noted the “tremendous progress” to ramping up defense spending during an event Wednesday at the Atlantic Council. But he said that allies should use the upcoming summit to discuss shortfalls in the capacity to produce weapons.
“I think as people acknowledge that one of the reasons why the family is having a fight is because some of the brothers and sisters were just not stepping up to the level the family expected, then we can have a good discourse with this president,” Tillis said.
“What we don’t want to have in Ankara is some discussion of us reducing our commitment to NATO. That’s the worst possible thing that can come from that,” the senator said before the review was announced.
