USA omstrukturerer SACEUR - NBC

 

Trump admin considers giving up NATO command that has been exclusively American since Eisenhower

The move is being discussed as part of a possible restructuring of combatant commands that would help the Defense Department cut costs.

 

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, then supreme commander of NATO, at headquarters near Paris in 1952.AP file

March 18, 2025, 10:18 PM GMT+1

By Courtney Kube and Gordon Lubold

For nearly 75 years, it has been a distinctly American responsibility to have a four-star U.S. general oversee all NATO military operations in Europe — a command that began with then-World War II hero and future president Dwight D. Eisenhower. 

But the Trump administration, according to two defense officials familiar with the planning and a Pentagon briefing reviewed by NBC News, is considering changing that. 

The Pentagon is undertaking a significant restructuring of the U.S. military’s combatant commands and headquarters. And one of the plans under consideration, the two defense officials said, would involve the U.S. giving up the role of NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe — known within military parlance as the SACEUR. The general now in this role, who also serves as the head of U.S. European Command, has been the primary commander overseeing support to Ukraine in its war against Russia. It is not clear how long such a reorganization could take, and it could by modified by the time it is complete. Congress could also weigh in, using the power of the purse should members oppose any aspect of the initiative.   

Giving up SACEUR would, if nothing else, be a major symbolic shift in the balance of power in NATO, the alliance that has defined European security and peace since World War II. 

“For the United States to give up the role of supreme allied commander of NATO would be seen in Europe as a significant signal of walking away from the alliance,” retired Adm. James Stavridis, who served as SACEUR and head of European Command from 2009 to 2013, said in an email.  

“It would be a political mistake of epic proportion, and once we give it up, they are not going to give it back," he wrote. "We would lose an enormous amount of influence within NATO, and this would be seen, correctly, as probably the first step toward leaving the Alliance altogether.” 

Since Eisenhower inaugurated the position, it has been held by some of the country’s most prominent military leaders. In addition to Stavridis, they include Alexander Haig, who was also chief of staff to two presidents and secretary of state for a third; John Shalikashvili, who became chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Wesley Clark, who was a candidate for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination.  

The proposed restructuring comes as the Trump administration has cut spending and staff across the federal government. And President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have made clear that the new administration wants European partners to take more responsibility for Europe’s defense. If the U.S. does give up SACEUR, the other NATO nations would likely have to choose among themselves which country would put forward the commander.

Trump has repeatedly criticized NATO members for not meeting a goal the alliance has set for the percentage of GDP each country should spend on defense. As NBC News previously reported, he is also considering a major policy shift under which the U.S. might not defend a fellow NATO member if it is attacked — a core tenet of the alliance — if the country doesn’t meet the defense spending threshold. 

The timeline for the SACEUR move, if it does happen, is as yet undetermined. Army Gen. Chris Cavoli, the current SACEUR, is on a three-year tour due to end this summer.

Five of the military’s 11 combatant commands could be consolidated under the plan being discussed, the two defense officials familiar with the planning said.  

The Defense Department did not reply to a request for comment.

The massive restructuring plan under consideration could also include two potential changes previously reported by NBC News: the consolidation of U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command into one command based in Stuttgart, Germany, as well as the shuttering of U.S. Southern Command headquarters in Florida in order to combine it with U.S. Northern Command. 

Combining the commands would allow the military to save money by reducing staff with overlapping responsibilities, according to officials familiar with the planning. If all of the changes being considered are implemented, up to $270 million could be saved in the first year, according to a Pentagon briefing reviewed by NBC News. That savings would amount to roughly 0.03% of the Defense Department’s $850 billion annual budget. 

A potential reorganization of this nature, being considered two months into the administration, appears to be motivated by cost-cutting, not a comprehensive new military strategy, said Ben Hodges, a retired Army three-star general who last served as the Army’s senior commander in Europe.  

The contemplated moves in Europe may reduce American influence there, as the U.S. could lose some access to key naval and air bases in Italy, Germany, Poland and Spain — bases that benefit the U.S. by putting them closer to potential missions and giving them more influence with and access to regional military officials, not only its allies, Hodges said.  

“When you start reducing capabilities of headquarters that do planning and intelligence — that only hurts us,” Hodges told NBC News. “What strategic analysis led them to want to do this? This has happened so early that this clearly smells like a cost-cutting thing than a strategic analysis.”