US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday, 2 June, told lawmakers in Washington that European allies must shoulder a far greater share of their own defence, warning that the United States can no longer carry a disproportionate security load while juggling rising challenges across the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East, and other theatres. His remarks, delivered before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, mark one of the sharpest articulations yet of the Trump administration's push to recalibrate burden-sharing within NATO.

Key remarks before the Senate panel

Defending the administration's drive for higher NATO defence spending, Rubio said many European countries would face hard fiscal choices if they were serious about meeting their military commitments. ‘The reality of NATO, whether we like to hear it or not, is that many of the countries in Europe were able to build these very robust social safety nets because they didn't have to spend it on defence, because NATO and the United States were providing it for them,' Rubio said.

The Secretary of State acknowledged that several NATO members had pledged higher outlays but cautioned that pledges alone would not suffice. ‘They've made these pledges that they're going to increase their defence spending and their defence capability. It actually has to be on defence,' he said.

The fiscal trade-off facing Europe

Rubio argued that European governments would eventually have to choose between raising taxes, trimming domestic spending, or accepting slower growth to finance stronger militaries. ‘The bigger challenge that much of Europe faces, many countries in NATO face, their economies are not growing,' he said.

The comments come amid a broader debate within the alliance ahead of upcoming NATO and G7 meetings, where defence outlays and capability gaps are expected to dominate the agenda.

Washington's global stretch

Rubio underscored that US commitments now extend well beyond the Euro-Atlantic. ‘The United States has global obligations,' he said, citing the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, and the Western Hemisphere as competing priorities. ‘We don't have unlimited military resources,' he added, suggesting that some allies had not fully grasped the simultaneous pressures on Washington.

NATO support, but with caveats

Pressed by Senator Chris Coons on whether the alliance's Article 5 mutual defence commitment remained unconditional, Rubio reaffirmed his long-standing support for NATO while questioning whether all members were contributing equitably. ‘I have throughout my entire career in the Senate and through much of my time now in this administration been a supporter of NATO,' he said.

He also flagged concerns about allies restricting US military access during crises. ‘If the core rationale for us being in NATO, if what we get out of NATO is the ability to use bases, and then we have members of that alliance that are basically denying the use of those bases in a contingency, it calls into question the entire thing,' Rubio said.

Praise for Sweden and Finland

The Secretary singled out Sweden and Finland, NATO's newest entrants, as model contributors. ‘Sweden and Finland have actually contributed because they brought their own defence industry, their own advanced technologies,' he said, contrasting their capability-led entry with allies more reliant on US underwriting.

With NATO and G7 summits approaching, Rubio's testimony is likely to sharpen pressure on European capitals to convert spending pledges into verifiable capability — a debate that will shape transatlantic security through the rest of the year.