Pentagon email shows US wants to punish NATO allies<\/a><\/p>\nThe email suggests the US may review the UK’s claim to the Falkland Islands and Spain’s NATO membership as punishment over their stance on the Iran war.<\/p>\n
“NATO 3.0 is post-Cold War recognition that [NATO] needs to go back to a real hard-line military alliance that has real military capabilities capable of deterring right here on the continent and taking the lead for the conventional defense of Europe,” Mr Hegseth said.<\/p>\n
As part of that, he told reporters, the United States would be investing $US 1.5 trillion ($2.1 trillion) in its own defence in 2027, sending “a message to the world” that America is building an “arsenal of freedom”.<\/p>\n
Mr Hegseth said that this arsenal “first and foremost protects America and American interests but also backstops the strength of NATO and our allies”.<\/p>\n
He said he would tell US allies they “have to be willing to stand up and do something in a strong way about” the defence of their own continent.<\/p>\n
![\"Mark](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b84f1ce0ff1263a37abd18dd3d9a6985.jpeg\")
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Pete Hegseth’s comments came during a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels. (Reuters: Yves Herman)<\/p>\n
NATO’s supreme allied commander, US Air Force General Alexus G. Grynkewich, is working on backup plans to defend Europe after the US signalled on June 3 that it would no longer supply an aircraft carrier and support ships, aerial refuelling planes and dozens of fighter jets, among other military assets, in a crisis.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration insists that it needs to be able to plan for two simultaneous conflicts and wants more military resources at hand should a conflict break out with China in the Indo-Pacific region.<\/p>\n
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Under NATO’s collective security guarantee \u2014 Article 5 of its founding treaty \u2014 the 32 allies pledge that an attack on one of them will be considered an attack on all.<\/p>\n
It does not oblige them to provide military support, although many likely would.<\/p>\n
In essence, the United States is scaling back how it might help should an ally trigger Article 5.<\/p>\n
The US has by far NATO’s biggest armed forces.<\/p>\n
It does not intend to withdraw its nuclear weapons in Europe, which are key to NATO’s deterrence.<\/p>\n
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