Internal Pentagon documents reveal that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will receive at least four distinct options for American troop dispositions in Europe by November 6, well ahead of the review's official December completion deadline. The ongoing six-month evaluation, launched in June, has fueled anxiety among NATO allies. European nations fear substantial reductions to the roughly 80,000 U.S. troops deployed across the continent, alongside potential retaliation against countries that President Donald Trump believes failed to adequately support the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
The Pentagon's internal "Terms of Reference" outline the review process and establish criteria to assess future U.S. basing decisions across Europe. According to the document, a key milestone involves a decision briefing scheduled for September 18 between the top U.S. general in Europe and the Pentagon's policy chief, Elbridge Colby. This session will be pivotal in framing the formal options submitted to Hegseth.
Colby is expected to brief NATO ambassadors on the review's progress on Thursday at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels. On the review framework, a senior Pentagon official said developing detailed, varied force options highlights the rigor of the evaluation process. "We want to be able to talk through the pros and cons of a variety of different force levels or dispositions," the official told .
It remains uncertain whether these procedural details will reassure European leaders, who privately express skepticism and worry that Washington has already decided to draw down forces. The Trump administration has repeatedly indicated its intention to scale back U.S. military commitments in Europe, urging NATO allies to assume a larger share of the burden than in previous decades. President Donald Trump has also voiced frustration over allies relying on U.S. security guarantees while allegedly offering insufficient backing for the Iran conflict, including instances where nations delayed or denied overflight and basing permissions for American warplanes.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte acknowledged President Trump's disappointment, though he noted that the vast majority of European allies provided meaningful assistance. The Pentagon official explained that the Trump administration has made its strategy clear: "we are transitioning to provide critical, more limited support with allies in the lead." "President Trump has also been quite rightly and clearly frustrated with certain allies' behavior in recent months. So there's clearly at least some demand signal to have options that would show us (downgrading) our force levels in Europe," the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Nevertheless, the official stated that the review aims to "provide a spectrum of options from where we are to wherever" the assessment leads. When Hegseth announced the review in June, he rebuked certain "free-riding" NATO members, emphasizing that the process would ensure U.S. "access, basing, and overflight are clearly delineated." The Terms of Reference extend beyond basic access, basing, and overflight (ABO) agreements to encompass space, cyber, and "intelligence architectures and infrastructure that enable U.S. global power projection," the document notes.
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