Under Secretary of War Elbridge Colby Profile picture
Apr 24 10 tweets 3 min read Read on X
President Trump has rightly laid out that Europe must step up, and NATO must no longer be a paper tiger.
Through the historic Hague Commitments, Europe has begun to do so.

But the key now is, in the words of SecGen Rutte, action over words. As Rutte put it this week, “Air defense systems, drones, ammunition, radars, space capabilities — that is what will keep us safe.” 1/
Germany is now taking the leading role in this. After years of disarmament, Berlin is stepping up. The DOW is already working closely with European allies, especially Germany, to accelerate this transition to NATO 3.0. 2/
Berlin’s new Military Strategy shows a clear path forward and we look forward to collaborating closely with the FRG to implement this. Below are some key excerpts: 3/ Image
General Carsten Breuer wrote in the Strategy’s Foreword that: “The Military Strategy reflects the idea that, as the largest economy in Europe…Germany must and will assume a leading role within NATO – also at the military level. It represents a paradigm shift and underpins our ambition to play an active and substantial role.” 4/
The Strategy also affirms that “Germany…will take on additional burdens, including targeted strategic responsibility for Europe at the strategic level…The Bundeswehr will thus become the strongest conventional army in Europe.” 5/ Image
“Germany is taking on a historically unprecedented amount of responsibility for Europe, and will continue to build on this basis. NATO must become more European to remain transatlantic.” 6/
“The United States is essential to NATO. Both in political terms and due to its military capabilities. However, it has indicated that it is increasingly shifting its strategic focus towards its Western Hemisphere and the Indo-Pacific.” 7/
“Beyond this reorientation toward the Indo-Pacific, the United States is demanding in its 2026 National Defense Strategy that its allies step up their efforts to safeguard their own security. Germany must therefore become an even stronger military Ally to the United States while working together with other Allies to take on more responsibility for the shared Euro-Atlantic security.” 8/Image
Moreover, a “national and European projection capability would strengthen deterrence and collective defense, lighten the burden on the United States and enhance Europe’s ability to take action.” In other words, a stronger Europe will be able to contribute more to critical missions, as the President has emphasized. 9/
Germany’s Military Strategy represents a clear, credible way forward to NATO 3.0: A NATO in which Europe and Canada step up to meet their responsibilities within the Alliance and transform it from a paper tiger to a strong deterrent and defense.

President Trump has provided the clear and consistent message Europe and Canada need to hear. We at DoW stand ready to engage and aid those who heed his message and take real action at the speed of relevance. 10/10Image
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More from @USWPColby

Jul 14
There is a great deal of hubbub about a collective “middle powers”strategy these days.

At DoW, we are not concerned that this is a serious possibility. Rather, we are more concerned that a few allies and partners will *think it is* and waste valuable time, money, and political capital on a distraction. 1/
From our point of view, a collective middle powers strategy is based on a faulty understanding of international relations. We are flexible realists. So, we view the international scene through the prism of interest, geography, economics, military power, etc. “Middle powers” don’t have a coherent basis for alignment. 2/
It also isn’t borne out by reality, in our experience. We see an *upsurge* in desire for engagement with the United States, not a reduction. Under President Trump’s leadership, countries not only see the value of American engagement, they can no longer take it for granted. We unquestionably see an incredibly strong and continuing demand signal for U.S. military presence and engagement around the world. 3/
Read 7 tweets
Jul 11
Yesterday I had the honor to open the work of the 18th Conference of the Defense Ministers of the Americas. The conference itself will be held in America in 2028. But that conference will be about measuring results of our critical work with our Hemispheric partners. That important work begins now. 1/Image
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I laid out our agenda for those efforts on Wednesday in my remarks to the conference in Cusco. 2/ war.gov/News/Speeches/…
Under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, America has adopted a new approach to Hemispheric defense focused on concrete results. This approach is in our interests—but also in our partners’. I therefore called on partners to work with us now to reestablish deterrence against narco-terrorists, secure our critical assets & key terrain, and increase their own defense spending to effectively deal with the threats we all face. 3/
Read 4 tweets
Jul 10
I was honored to represent Secretary Hegseth at the 17th Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas in Cusco, Peru. Under President Trump and @SecWar’s leadership, the Department of War has prioritized our own Hemisphere. This is the Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. In my speech in Cusco, I laid out why this is not only in Americans’ interests, but very much also in the interests of our neighbors in this, our shared hemisphere. 1/Image
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“America under President Trump’s visionary leadership will be guided by a flexible realism that prioritizes our most vital national interests. It will see the world as it is, as good strategy demands, and act accordingly to serve Americans’ concrete, practical interests. As is evident for all to see, this involves a fundamental change in our approach to the Western Hemisphere.” 2/ war.gov/News/Speeches/…
“For the last generation, the very Hemisphere where our own country is located has been – to be frank – a backwater in America’s strategic imagination. This was a product of that mindset of the unipolar moment…Yet that putatively benign neglect, in practice, turned malign.” 3/ Image
Read 26 tweets
Jun 19
I represented @DeptofWar yesterday at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. Our policy has been to encourage and enable Europe to take the lead in supporting Ukraine, and that that shift would be consistent with Ukraine's self-defense. That policy is working and we are leaning forward to continue it. 🧵 1/Image
“From the beginning of last year, this Administration has contended that Europe could and would take the leading role in providing for its conventional defense, including by providing the great bulk of support for Ukraine, and that such an approach would be consistent with a viable Ukrainian defense. We regard this policy as having been borne out.” 2/
“In the past year, European allies have taken the leading role in supporting Ukraine's defense, assuming the responsibility for the financial support of Ukraine as well as providing their own arms to Ukraine.” 3/
Read 9 tweets
Jun 19
.@SecWar delivered a major speech at yesterday’s NATO Defense Ministerial, focused on doubling down and accelerating the shift to NATO 3.0. He also announced an important six-month review of our force and basing posture in Europe. 🧵 1/ Image
“As I said in my first NATO Defense Ministerial last February, and as the Trump Administration has said again and again…our allies must step up. President Trump has been very clear on this point for many years, and over two administrations, and for too long, NATO has been a paper tiger and a one-way street.”

 2/war.gov/News/Transcrip…
“That’s what defense spending commitments are all about, transforming NATO back into a real military alliance that’s focused on hard power and real deterrence. A NATO 3.0 modeled on the NATO 1.0 that won the Cold War, with our allies actually taking the lead in Europe’s conventional defense.” 3/
Read 23 tweets
Jun 12
The United Kingdom has an extraordinarily proud military history. It commands our respect. There is again a great need for more British military strength in this critical time. We urge the UK to meet that need with urgency, scale, and determination. 1/
As I said recently in Normandy, “Here soldiers, sailors, and airmen from Great Britain and Canada demonstrated the courage, tenacity, dedication, daring, and loyalty that won them the lasting admiration and gratitude of the whole world – not only here in Normandy but also through the entirety of two World Wars…” 2/
war.gov/News/Speeches/…
“at the Somme, Passchendaele, and Ypres in the Great War, and at Dieppe, El Alamein, and in the North Atlantic in the Second. Allow me, on behalf of my country, to pay special homage to them.” 3/
Read 4 tweets

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