During a House Armed Services Committee hearing held before the congressional recess, Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) questioned Defense Assistant Secretary Katherine Thompson about the European Union.
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00:00Chairman.
00:01Thank the gentleman.
00:02Excellent line of questions.
00:04Gentle lady from California, Ms. Jacobs.
00:06Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:08Ms. Thompson, do you believe the European Union was formed to hurt America?
00:12I do not.
00:14Okay.
00:15I ask because the President publicly said yesterday that the European Union was formed
00:19in order to screw the United States, and even floated the idea of using military force to
00:23take Greenland from Denmark, a NATO ally, because we, quote, need it for national security.
00:29Those kinds of statements suggest a U.S. stance that our European allies and institutions
00:33are adversaries or fair game for coercion.
00:36In your view, do such positions reflect a coherent U.S. strategy toward Europe?
00:41Thank you for the question, Congressman.
00:43What I would say is, as far as our approach to our allies and partners, is one first and
00:48foremost of honesty.
00:49We want to be honest with our partners, and we also want to be honest about the fact that
00:52they need to step up.
00:53And that's what I was emphasizing in my testimony when I referenced the administration's priority
00:57to bring European and Canadian allies within NATO to 5 percent, and we've already seen
01:02great strides in that process, and then also have our European allies lead out, particularly
01:07on the future of security assistance to Ukraine.
01:10And I would also underscore that Denmark and our bilateral relationship with Denmark is certainly
01:16a part of that equation.
01:17And we want to have a robust security relationship there, particularly for the reasons that you
01:21identify as far as Greenland being critical to homeland defense.
01:24And we would share that view.
01:27Okay, great.
01:28Well, it's good to know that our approach is about honesty.
01:30I guess I'm glad the president publicly honestly said what he thinks about our European allies.
01:37Ms. Thompson, are you aware that Europe pays for 84 percent of NATO's infrastructure at U.S.
01:42bases, and that Poland is spending over $300 million annually to support U.S. troops directly?
01:47Ms. I am certainly aware of Europe's contributions to NATO, for at least on the defense side.
01:53I know there's different streams of funding for defense contributions, or for NATO contributions
01:58on the state side as well.
01:59Ms. Okay.
02:00And so how do you square that with calling them free riders?
02:02Ms. So I think the commentary that I made and then certainly that the administration
02:07has made really stems from this chronic underspending of being under the 2 percent threshold.
02:13The Wales pledge in 2014 was made in a security environment that was arguably a lot more secure
02:17than the security environment that we face today, certainly from the U.S., the adversaries
02:21that the U.S. is facing.
02:23And I think from that perspective, there's rightly placed frustration in wanting our European
02:27allies to not only meet the spending commitment that they made in 2014, but also live up to
02:33the overarching Article III pledge of contributing to the collective security of the alliance,
02:38which includes defense spending.
02:40And I would also argue that the security environment that we face today, as bipartisan officials
02:45have recognized across administrations, 2 percent as a threshold for spending is no longer
02:50sufficient to meet the demands of the security environment, which is exactly why President
02:54Trump has set the target he set.
02:56And it's really, really encouraging, I have to say, for many of our allies to now be over
03:00the 2 percent threshold.
03:01We want to see those timelines get pulled to the left even further and to see them make
03:06further progress.
03:07And I would also just take the opportunity to highlight the Eastern allies who are on
03:11track to meet 5 percent very, very soon.
03:14And General Cavoli, from a military standpoint, what is the impact on our operations and partnerships
03:21when our allies hear American leaders suggest that the EU was formed to screw us or to entertain
03:27ideas of invading an allies' territory or for calling them free riders when they are contributing
03:33a lot to supporting our troops?
03:35How does this affect trust and cohesion among our allies that we depend on for our collective
03:38security?
03:39Ma'am, thanks for the question.
03:42Clearly it strays well out of my lane.
03:45But I talk to all of the chiefs of defense in Europe all the time.
03:51And our military-to-military relationships remain quite strong and are very solid, ma'am.
03:57Have President Trump's comments come up in any of your conversations with other military
04:02leaders?
04:03Rarely.
04:04But have they, in the context of Europe, in this being formed to screw them or what the
04:11president is trying to do in Greenland?
04:13Ma'am, it's rare enough that I'm searching to be sure to give you a complete and honest
04:21answer.
04:22I can't remember an instance of that off the top of my head.
04:28You know, military guys, we really try to stay carefully to the military construct and
04:33to the military lane because it's not our job in any of the nations in NATO.
04:42So I can't think of an example off the top of my head.
04:44If I do think of one, I'll be sure to tell you.
04:47Mr. Chairman, I yield back.