Hegseth orders review of U.S. troops deployed to NATO in fiery Brussels speech

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth chastised NATO allies as “shameful” for the restrictions placed on American access to European bases during war against Iran and put them on notice that the Pentagon will conduct a review of U.S military contributions to the alliance.

The audit is meant to assess the speed and adequacy with which European members are taking responsibility for the continent’s security.

And one of the measures for the review, Hegseth said, will be the adequacy of defence spending, the secretary said in a fiery speech that also strayed into criticism of European gender and migration policies.

“This will be a real review. It will be designed to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defence of Europe,” Hegseth told his NATO counterparts in Brussels.

“It’s a review that some countries will fail and others will pass with flying colours.”

WATCH | Hegseth speaks to fellow NATO defence ministers:

Hegseth blasts NATO members, announces review of U.S. forces in Europe

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth threatened to withhold some dues to NATO if ‘free riding’ allies did not meet their defence spending commitments. ‘Europe was not supposed to be a dependency of the United States,’ Hegseth said.

Hegseth’s comments largely mischaracterized current European policies, which — like the United States — have tightened borders.

He delivered the public dressing down and left the meeting early on Thursday, leaving NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to manage startled allies who listened to his speech in silence.

The review is in addition to the Pentagon recently scaling back its list of forces that would be assigned to NATO in the event of an emergency. That has left European allies scrambling to find equipment to plug any gaps.

The Trump administration insists that it needs to be able to plan for two simultaneous conflicts and wants more military resources at hand should it clash with China in the Indo-Pacific region.

Following the meeting, Rutte walked a tightrope, defending allies who’ve dramatically increased defence spending in the last year — by $90 billion US over 2024 — but also backing some of Hegseth’s arguments. 

“It’s completely acceptable that the U.S. think: OK, what is our role here in terms of the force posture? Do we have to make changes or not?” said Rutte, who noted the review will take months.

“I’m happy he does this, because we need to speak the truth to each other.”

Prior to the meeting, Rutte said allies will be expected to arrive at next month’s summit in Ankara, Turkey, with “credible” roadmaps to meet NATO’s revised defence spending targets of five per cent of the gross domestic product (3.5 per cent in direct military spending and 1.5 per cent on defence infrastructure) by 2035.

Canada has been criticized by senior Pentagon officials for not already providing Washington with such a plan.

Going into Thursday’s meeting at NATO headquarters, Defence Minister David McGuinty said the plan was still being developed.

“Canada is particularly pleased to be here for the first time after meeting its two per cent GDP target, actually over two per cent,” McGuinty said in reference to the announcement by NATO in March that Canada crossed the previous threshold for defence spending after years of resisting such a move. 

“We’re well on track for our 3.5 per cent target and putting together the plans necessary to meet that target and of course the five per cent target by 2035.”