Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth reiterated the Trump administration’s commitment to NATO on Thursday but warned that the US will not be taken advantage of by allies who fail to meet their defense obligations.
Speaking at a media briefing following a NATO Defense Ministerial meeting in Brussels, Hegseth referenced former President Dwight D. Eisenhower‘s concerns that Europe was not contributing enough to its own defense.
Eisenhower believed in a strong relationship with Europe, but he was worried that “Europe was not shouldering enough of its own defense. Nearly making, in Eisenhower’s words, ‘a sucker out of Uncle Sam,'” said Hegseth.
“Like President Eisenhower, this administration believes in alliances, deeply believes in alliances. But make no mistake, President Trump will not allow anyone to turn Uncle Sam into Uncle Sucker,” he added.
Turning to the war in Ukraine, Hegseth noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion in 2022 — after Trump had left office — arguing that Trump’s leadership deterred aggression during his first term.
“So, any suggestion that President Trump is doing anything other than negotiating from a position of strength is, on its face, ahistorical and false,” he said. “We have the perfect dealmaker at the table to negotiate with both Vladimir Putin and (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy,” said the defense chief.
“No one’s going to get everything that they want, understanding who can be in the first place. But I challenge anyone else to think of a world leader at this moment who, with credibility and strength, could bring those two leaders to the table and forge a durable peace that ultimately serves the interests of Ukraine, stops the killing and the death,” he added.
The defense chief also called on European allies to take primary responsibility for the continent’s defense, urging them to increase their military spending.
“Two percent is a start, as President Trump has said, but it’s not enough. Nor is 3%, nor is 4%. More like 5% — real investment, real urgency,” said Hegseth. “We can talk all we want about values. Values are important, but you can’t shoot values. You can’t shoot flags and you can’t shoot strong speeches. There is no replacement for hard power.”
Hegseth stressed that boosting European defense spending is essential, stressing the need for an expanded defense industrial base across the Atlantic.
“As the President of the United States has said, critical to this effort is expanding our defense industrial capacity on both sides of the Atlantic. Our dollars, our euros, our pounds must translate into real capabilities,” he added.