The Trump administration is weighing a plan to relocate U.S. troops away from NATO members that withheld basing and airspace access during Operation Epic Fury, the U.S.-Israeli air campaign against Iran that began February 28, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
President Trump is weighing penalties for NATO allies who declined support during Operation Epic Fury, including reassessing commitments and troop placements, per WSJ.
Pressure builds to prioritize allies who back the U.S. pic.twitter.com/gJAwid8DyW
— Brandon Straka #WalkAway (@BrandonStraka) April 9, 2026
Under the proposal, forces would redeploy from Germany, France, Italy, and Spain to countries viewed as more cooperative with U.S. operations, including Poland, Romania, Lithuania, and Greece. Administration officials described the discussions as preliminary.
“I have a direct quote from the president of the United States on NATO,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at Wednesday’s briefing. “They were tested, and they failed.”
.@PressSec reads a direct quote from @POTUS on NATO:
“They were tested, and they failed.” pic.twitter.com/azjM94r18W
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 8, 2026
The troop-relocation option is significant precisely because it is the only punitive step Trump can take without Congressional approval.
Section 1250A of the Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), passed in December 2023 with Rubio as a lead Senate sponsor, bars the president from unilaterally withdrawing the United States from NATO.
Rubio, who called NATO withdrawal reckless as a senator, now serves as Secretary of State and confirmed to State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott that he met Rutte on Wednesday to discuss Operation Epic Fury, the Russia-Ukraine war, and NATO burden-sharing.
Italy denied U.S. military aircraft permission to land at Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella in Sicily for Operation Epic Fury strike missions after Washington failed to provide required advance notification under the bilateral basing agreement, according to an Italian government source.
Spain closed its airspace and jointly operated bases to all U.S. Iran-related flights. Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles said the conflict was “profoundly illegal and profoundly unjust.”
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte met Trump at the White House on Wednesday afternoon. Speaking with CNN afterward, Rutte described the meeting as “frank and open.”
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte joined The Lead just moments after his White House meeting with President Trump and described the conversation as a ‘very frank, very open’ discussion and said President Trump is ‘clearly disappointed’ with NATO allies pic.twitter.com/abuhHFn1Ug
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) April 8, 2026
“There is a disappointment, clearly,” Rutte said. “But at the same time he was also listening carefully to my arguments.”
