US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon has no immediate plans to reduce its military presence in Europe but emphasized a growing focus on deterring China in the Indo-Pacific.
“There are no plans right now in the making to cut anything,” Hegseth said during a media availability in Stuttgart on Wednesday, noting that the administration is reviewing global force posture under President Donald Trump‘s strategy.
He urged NATO allies to take greater responsibility for their own defense, reinforcing Trump’s call for European nations to boost defense spending to 5% of GDP.
“The European continent deserves to be free from any aggression. But it ought to be those in the neighborhood investing the most,” he said.
Hegseth signaled a shift in strategic priorities, underscoring the need to counter China’s growing ambitions. “We need to make sure we’re focused properly on the Communist Chinese and their ambitions in the Indo-Pacific,” he said. “We don’t want conflict with China. But peace through strength is how you deter that.”
-‘DETERRENCE CANNOT FAIL, FOR ALL OF OUR SAKES’
Earlier, at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Brussels, Hegseth expanded on the administration’s evolving defense posture.
“The US faces consequential threats to our homeland. We must-and we are-focusing on security of our own borders,” he said.
He warned that China represents a peer competitor with “the capability and intent to threaten our homeland and core national interests in the Indo-Pacific.”
“The US is prioritizing deterring war with China in the Pacific, recognizing the reality of scarcity, and making the resourcing tradeoffs to ensure deterrence does not fail,” he said. “Deterrence cannot fail, for all of our sakes.”
As Washington refocuses its attention, Hegseth stressed that European allies must “lead from the front” in their own region.
“Together, we can establish a division of labor that maximizes our comparative advantages in Europe and the Pacific respectively,” he said.
The defense secretary noted “promising signs” that European nations are stepping up to the challenge under Trump’s leadership.
Asked about top threats to the US, Hegseth first pointed to border security. “We’ve been defending other people’s borders for a long time; time to defend ours,” he said, commending ongoing efforts to seal the southern border.