Washington DC - An ongoing review by the Pentagon of US troop deployments to Europe as part of NATO will be presented to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on November 6, well ahead of a December deadline.
Numerous documents obtained by Reuters reveal the review will include four sets of options for Hegseth on how to handle troop deployments to Europe, where roughly 80,000 US soldiers form the backbone of NATO's defense.
The review has spurned concerns across Europe and among NATO allies that the Trump administration will withdraw large quantities of US forces from Europe as a punishment for failing to support the US and Israel's war against Iran.
Pentagon Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby is expected to speak with NATO ambassadors in Brussels on Thursday, where he will address the review.
"We want to be able to talk through the pros and cons of a variety of different force levels or dispositions," an official told Reuters under the condition of anonymity.
The US is generally expected to reduce the US' commitment to NATO and put more of the burden on other allied countries.
"We are transitioning to provide critical, more limited support with allies in the lead," the Pentagon officials said.
"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 [reducing] our force levels in Europe."
Hegseth announced the NATO review in June, only weeks after taking an aggressive swipe at the US' partners for not contributing enough.
"For too long, polite pleas from our European allies to spend more on their own defense fell on deaf ears," Hegseth said. "They are finally playing catch-up."
"You don't have a strong alliance unless everyone has skin in the game. No freeloading."