Two percent is a start, as President Trump has said, but it’s not enough, nor is 3%, nor is 4% — more like 5%,” the defense secretary said in a speech in Brussels.

Speaking at a NATO meeting in Belgium, the defense secretary said the U.S. would no longer tolerate an imbalanced relationship with its allies.

"President Trump will not allow anyone to turn Uncle Sam into 'Uncle Sucker,'" stated Pete Hegseth, the new head of the U.S. Department of Defense, regarding the continued functioning of NATO and peace talks to end the war in Ukraine.

Defense Secretary Hegseth said it was “unrealistic” to aim for a return to Ukraine’s borders as they were before 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea.

Defense chief Pete Hegseth issued a call to "make NATO great again" – urging European countries to spend more on defense with a twist on Trump's slogan.

U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said he also believed NATO membership for Ukraine was not realistic, nor was the country regaining its pre-2014 borders.