War Department Review to Ensure 'NATO 3.0' Becomes Europe-Led Defense Alliance

The War Department plans to review its posture and footprint in Europe to determine how the U.S. is supporting NATO, how partners are supporting NATO and whether what's happening on the ground reflects what President Donald J. Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth believe the alliance should be.

"We're doubling down on our effort to make NATO what it always was supposed to be: a balanced alliance with Europe in the lead for its own defense - NATO 3.0," Hegseth said today during an address to NATO in Brussels.

The review, Hegseth said, would last up to six months - though it could be shorter - and will take input from both U.S. and European military commands.

"It will involve consultations with the U.S. Congress and with our allies," Hegseth said. "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, stepping up to ensure our forces are postured for America's global needs and stepping up to make sure that our access, basing and overflight are clearly delineated and assured."

Since Trump took office in 2025, Hegseth and the president have been unwavering in what it is they expect from NATO: that the alliance will pull its own weight in terms of defense funds spent and that Europe will take the lead in maintaining its defense.

"Going forward, our annual NATO dues will be contingent on other countries meeting their defense spending targets; where other allies do not spend with urgency, our dues contributions will go down," Hegseth said. "NATO will be a two-way street. It's only common sense. America cannot care for or pay more for Europe's defense than our allies do."

The U.S., under the president, has pushed NATO partners to contribute 5% of gross domestic product toward defense. And Hegseth said many nations are already on board with that - as well as with other efforts needed to strengthen the NATO alliance, such as rebuilding the defense industrial base.

"It's historic, and it's transformational," he said. "And some allies are already well on their way to meeting this ambitious target, and in some cases ahead of schedule. And as you've seen over the last six months, President Trump is also committed to the United States defense spending more than $1 trillion in 2026 and a commitment of $1.5 trillion in 2027. We will lead and exceed our own NATO spending standards."

NATO 3.0, Hegseth said, is a post-Cold War embodiment of the defense alliance with a focus on real military capabilities ready to deter threats in the European continent and which is led by Europeans - not the U.S.

The review, Hegseth said, will not remove the U.S. from NATO or its obligations there - but will instead ensure the U.S. is postured as a partner in Europe's defense, not the leader of Europe's defense and that European NATO partners are stepping up their own defense.

"We're going to keep a close eye on allies who are not doing that and who say 'no,' or 'maybe' or 'wait and see' when it matters most," he said. "It's a review that some countries will fail, and others will pass with flying colors. In the end, the review is intended to both improve U.S. force posture and basing and strengthen NATO 3.0. ... This is the right thing to do by the American people; it's the right thing to do by this alliance. Europe can and must take primary responsibility for its conventional defense as it pledged at The Hague Summit and, in the process, safeguarding Europe's defense for generations to come."

NATO allies will meet again in July in Ankara, Turkey.