BREAKING: Report Says Marco Rubio Blocked Pete Hegseth’s Plan to Reduce U.S. Troops in Europe, Exposing a Major Internal Rift!

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is said to have stopped Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from announcing a plan to cut U.S.troops in Europe last month, according to a story from The Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

The Journal says Hegseth was planning to tell NATO’s top military leaders during a meeting in Brussels in June that the Pentagon was ready to cut more troops in Europe, besides the canceled plan to rotate an armored unit to Poland and the withdrawal of an infantry unit from Romania.
But after the plan was shared with Rubio and other top officials, it was turned down, according to people who know about the situation.

Instead of announcing new troop cuts, Hegseth told NATO leaders the Pentagon would review the U.S.
military’s position in Europe, a process that could take up to six months.

The Journal says this event shows continuing disagreements within the Trump administration about how fast and how much to reduce the U.S.
military presence in Europe.The outlet points out that President Trump has often said European allies should take more responsibility for their own defense, and Hegseth has also urged NATO members to take on the main responsibility for defending Europe.

However, the report also mentions that Hegseth’s push for more troop reductions has raised concerns among some U.S.
allies and members of Congress, including some Republicans who fear a quick pullback could weaken NATO and encourage Russia.These concerns have led lawmakers to include language in a proposed defense bill that would stop the Pentagon from reducing troops in Europe below 76,000 without a risk assessment and approval from Hegseth.

Even Trump was surprised when Hegseth canceled the planned armored brigade rotation to Poland in May, calling Hegseth to ask “why he was treating a valued ally so poorly,” and then announcing he would instead send the country 5,000 troops.

The White House referred the Journal’s questions to the Pentagon, and Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said Hegseth “ensured his message was aligned with the president’s objectives and agenda, and he did not want to impede upon the president’s decision space.”