Ever since the defense alliance's founding in 1949, the United States has had a dominant role, with large forces deployed in Europe.
But now the Trump administration is so unhappy that European countries are not contributing more that it is threatening to hand over primary responsibility for much of the operation. The Pentagon is said to have given the grim message to European delegations this week, Reuters reports .
This could mean that large forces and weapons that the US now has in European countries would need to be replaced with personnel and equipment from EU countries and the UK.
The signals are a further tightening of the demands that Donald Trump has previously made regarding how large portions of GDP other NATO members allocate to defense.
According to the information, the US has set a deadline of 2027 for Europe to meet the superpower's requirements.
