Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has blamed NATO allies for U.S. troops being killed and injured in Iran.
The 46-year-old former Fox & Friends Weekend host was in Brussels, Belgium, talking to fellow NATO members when he ripped into Washington’s nearest and dearest in a bizarre tirade that laid blame for American war casualties at the feet of people who weren’t fighting.
“These allies, they put America’s sons and daughters, our sons and daughters, at risk by denying them the predictable access, basing and overflight that never should have been in question at all,” he said Thursday.
The defense secretary lambasted allies for their refusal to let the U.S. use their bases for President Donald Trump’s war in Iran and said the Pentagon would be carrying out a review of forces in Europe with the possibility of making cuts, unless there was an increase in European military spending.
“Too many allied capitals seem to still miss something in translation,” he said earlier in his speech. “Too many allies still don’t recognize the historic need that President Trump has made clear to them and to NATO itself to reform a relevant, powerful military alliance.
“As President Trump put it, and rightfully so, he gave our allies a test: to support America when we asked for their help, and too many failed it.
“The United States has defended Europe for generations, and the president said—all he said was that our jets would need to take off from bases in Europe or our ships from ports to strike targets in the Middle East, Iranian targets that threaten European interests even more directly than they threaten us.
“But too many of our allies said ‘no,’ or tried to drown us in arcane legal debates, or criticized us publicly for doing what they aren’t prepared or able to do themselves. It was shameful.”
Then, revealing his big threat, Hegseth said, “This will be a real review. It will be designed to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe, leading, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defense of Europe.”
It comes despite the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute saying in April that European defense spending had leaped 14 percent from 2024, CNN reports.
Several European powers distanced themselves from the bombardment of Iran, citing excuses like it not being their fight or it potentially being illegal.
Trump and Hegseth were incensed by France, the U.K., Italy, and Spain, the latter two of which took stringent measures to prevent U.S. military planes from using their airspace after the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran on Feb. 28.
The snub was compounded after Trump bragged that his allies would rush to help him with his blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
They didn’t.
The Pentagon declined to comment on Hegseth’s remarks when contacted by the Daily Beast.
