Donald Trump’s defence secretary has announced the US will review its forces in Europe after launching a fresh attack on the amount of money the UK and other allies have put into the Nato alliance.
Britain is represented at the Nato meeting by the new defence secretary Dan Jarvis, who has arrived without the UK’s long-awaited plan on defence investment, due to have been unveiled last week.
At its headquarters in Brussels, Pete Hegseth told defence ministers that for too long Nato had been a “paper tiger and a one-way street”, too reliant on the US, adding that “some of Nato’s largest economies… still think the era of free riding is here”.
“No more,” he added. “For all of our clarity, too many allied capitals seem to still miss something in translation. Too many allies still don’t recognise the historic need that President Trump has made clear to them and to Nato itself.”
Britain’s defence spending plan has been delayed after a furious row over its funding led his predecessor John Healey to dramatically quit and accuse Keir Starmer of being “unwilling to commit the resources” needed to keep Britain safe.
Downing Street has been forced to deny it is embarrassing for Mr Jarvis to attend the Nato summit without a defence plan.
No 10 told reporters Mr Jarvis was there “as the secretary of state for one of the best militaries in the world”.
Mr Hegseth also hit out at Europe’s response to the US conflict in Iran. Washington is furious many countries, including the UK, were reluctant to support the American and Israeli strikes.
He said: “[Trump] gave our allies a test to support America when we asked for their help, and too many failed it. The United States has defended Europe for generations.”
He added that President Trump had said “our jets would need to take off from bases in Europe or our ship, our ships from ports to strike targets in the Middle East, Iranian targets that threaten European interests even more directly than they threaten us.
“But too many of our allies said no or tried to drown us in arcane legal debates or criticised us publicly for doing what they aren’t prepared or able to do themselves.”
“It was shameful,” he added. “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.”
In retaliation, he announced that the US could no longer pay more for Nato’s defence than allies, and American dues would be contingent of other allies meeting spending targets.
The Pentagon is set to launch a review of US troop posture in Europe, the war secretary added, warning that some Nato allies would fail.
Nato secretary general Mark Rutte confirmed that European members of Nato were already committing to replace battlefield kit the US was withdrawing.
“What we are working on is to make sure that what the US has been providing so far will be filled,” he told reporters in Brussels. “Most of [and] a lot of it done – some of it nearly, and some of it requiring more debates and discussions.
“The US is saying, ‘we have adjusted our contributions to the Nato force model,’ that means other allies have to step up. We see that European allies and Canada are ready, willing and able to do more.”
Later in the day, Mr Rutte avoided criticising Mr Hegseth over his lashing out at America’s Nato allies. “I’m not going to comment on every word every ally is saying; I never do that,” he said when asked about Mr Hegseth’s criticism.
Mr Rutte also said that member nations “are working very hard” to meet targets. He said that the Nato spending increases pledged by member states are “historic,” but there are still some that are “holding back a little bit”.
He added that Mr Hegseth is right to “keep the pressure on.”
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