The Trump administration has privately told European partners that the United States will stop serving as NATO’s primary conventional defence provider after 2027. This signals a major strategic shift as Europe faces ongoing war in Ukraine and rising uncertainty about transatlantic security.
Pentagon officials reportedly informed European counterparts that the Indo-Pacific is now Washington’s top priority and that the U.S. cannot sustain preparations for two major wars simultaneously. Despite this pivot, American officials said that weapons deliveries to Ukraine will continue and may even increase before Christmas.
One Western official summarised the message as continued support for Kyiv but a future NATO in which Europe must assume first-responder status. Another diplomat said the U.S. is making clear that its era of dominance within the alliance is ending on a fixed timetable. European governments were warned that the Pentagon’s reduced role in NATO planning will become irreversible if Europe has not built a Europe-led defence structure by 2027.
Though the U.S. will keep participating in NATO planning for now, officials stressed that this involvement is intended only to help Europe take over. Washington also plans to shrink its senior officer presence within NATO headquarters, though the top military role of SACEUR will remain American. Overall, U.S. officials framed the change not as a withdrawal but as the conclusion of NATO’s traditional burden-sharing model.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Pete Hegseth, US Secretary of War, in Brussels, Belgium, on Oct. 15, 2025 (Photo by NATO)