Pete Hegseth Urges European Allies to Boost Defense Spending to Focus U.S. on Indo-Pacific
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used a major security forum in Singapore to urge European allies to spend more on their own defense while praising U.S. ties with Asian partners and saying relations with China had stabilized, according to Bloomberg and the published transcript of his remarks. In a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Hegseth argued that European countries should shoulder more of the security burden, signaling that Washington wants allies in Europe to do more as the U.S. sharpens its focus on the Indo-Pacific.
Hegseth said the United States was “pushing our allies in Europe to own more of their own security” and called higher defense investment “long overdue,” according to the Pentagon transcript of the speech. He also said the U.S. would work with allies “sometimes with tough love,” and stressed that partners should become “partners, not dependents,” language that underscored the administration’s message that NATO members must contribute more to their own defense.
The comments landed at a defense summit that has become one of Asia’s most important annual security gatherings, where U.S. officials typically emphasize the strategic importance of the region. Hegseth used the platform to say the Pacific is central to U.S. security and to frame China as the principal long-term challenge, while also highlighting cooperation with Asian allies. Bloomberg reported that he praised partners in Asia even as he took swipes at longstanding defense partners in Europe.
His remarks also reflected a broader debate inside the transatlantic alliance over burden-sharing, with Washington pressing European governments to increase military spending as threats grow in both Europe and Asia. According to the transcript, Hegseth said deterrence “doesn’t come on the cheap,” and argued that stronger allied investment would allow the United States to focus more attention on the Indo-Pacific. That message is likely to resonate in European capitals already facing pressure to raise defense budgets.
The speech came against a backdrop of fragile U.S.-China relations and continued uncertainty over the future of American security commitments abroad. Bloomberg reported that Hegseth said ties between Washington and Beijing had stabilized, suggesting a tone of guarded pragmatism even as he maintained a hard line on the need to counter Chinese power. For Asian allies, the balance of reassurance and pressure matters because it signals how the Trump administration is thinking about military priorities and alliance responsibilities going forward.