Some of Europe’s biggest defense spenders — and U.S. allies — were not invited to a Pentagon-led meeting to discuss the alliance. Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby waits for the start of a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Feb. 12, 2026. | Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP The Trump administration is excluding several major allies from a gathering of NATO members next month — after threatening to deploy a “naughty and nice list” against governments that have run afoul of the president’s priorities. The planned meeting in Poland, which Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby has spearheaded, is essentially a working group focused on NATO’s future, according to six diplomats familiar with the planning.
But many of the countries who didn’t receive an invite — such as the United Kingdom, France and the Baltic countries — are big defense spenders and play key roles in the alliance, leaving their diplomats wondering why they’re being frozen out. They question whether the administration is playing favorites in a way that could further splinter an alliance already struggling with increasing Russian aggression and depleted weapons stockpiles. Not much has been passed on to us yet.” From the SitRoom to the E-Ring, the inside scoop on defense, national security and foreign policy.
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