War Secretary Pete Hegseth had harsh words for NATO allies during an address to his European counterparts on Thursday, announcing a six-month review of U.S. force deployment on the continent.
Hegseth said the review’s outcome will depend on how quickly European nations act to support themselves militarily.
“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 defense of Europe,” he told NATO officials in Brussels.
Hegseth also lashed out at European countries for refusing to assist U.S. forces in the war against Iran, particularly those that withheld use of military bases.
TRUMP PRESSES NATO PARTNERS ON SUPPORT AS HEGSETH BLASTS HESITATION
“These allies, they put America’s sons and daughters, our sons and daughters, at risk by denying them the predictable access, basing and overflight that never should have been in question at all,” he said.
Hegseth then launched a more general critique of European policy, referencing migration and an emphasis on social policy over defense.
“Instead of tanks and fighters and air defenses, the focus has been on gender equity and climate change and defense austerity. Europe’s borders flew wide open, welfare states expanded, defense budgets cratered. Along with Europe’s belief in itself and its civilization,” Hegseth said.
GERMANY PLEDGES TO BUILD EUROPE’S STRONGEST ARMY AS NATO ALLIES ANSWER TRUMP PRESSURE
The wake-up call comes just days after Germany pledged to become a more powerful military force inside NATO, with Berlin’s ambassador to Washington telling Fox News Digital that the country is ready to assume greater responsibility for European security after decades in which the United States carried much of the alliance’s military burden.
“Germany is stepping up — we heard the call!” German Ambassador to the United States Jens Hanefeld told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said Germany’s armed forces should become the strongest conventional army in Europe, a goal Hanefeld said is now backed by Berlin’s new military strategy.
“Russia’s illegal war of aggression has shaken old certainties in Europe and Germany as the international rules we have relied on are being challenged,” Hanefeld said. “This changes the strategic environment we operate in.”
“Today, Germany is Ukraine’s largest supporter,” Hanefeld said. “Germany’s decision to become Europe’s strongest conventional army, well anchored in the NATO alliance, is an ongoing commitment.”
Fox News’ Efrat Lachter and the Associated Press contributed to this report.