U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, right, and Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto listen to the playing of national anthems at the Pentagon in Washington on June 15, 2026. Crosetto said he did not perceive any desire for a U.S. withdrawal from Italian bases following a bilateral meeting with Hegseth. (Alexander Kubitza/U.S. Navy)
Pentagon officials gave no sign that they want to withdraw troops from bases in Italy, the country’s defense minister said this week after meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Washington.
Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto met Monday with Hegseth and other U.S. officials, including acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao, for discussions that both sides say reinforced the partnership between the two countries.
“From a bilateral and NATO perspective, cooperation with us is in some ways very important for the United States,” Crosetto told reporters afterward, according to Italy’s National Associated Press Agency.
Speculation about a possible withdrawal of U.S. troops from Italy has swirled in the media for weeks. The reports were fueled by President Donald Trump’s calls to remove about 5,000 service members from Europe.
Trump repeatedly criticized NATO allies for what he deemed a lack of support from European member countries following U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran.
The cuts ultimately affected troop deployments to Poland and Germany, but Trump had suggested Italy and Spain might face a similar fate.
U.S. officials had criticized Italy’s refusal to let Iran-bound U.S. warplanes land at Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily. Italian officials, though, said they had not been notified or consulted about its use for operations outside the scope of existing agreements, which they said would require parliamentary approval.
But a chill in U.S.-Italy relations appears to be thawing as Washington prepares to formalize a peace agreement with Tehran later this week in Geneva.
Following news of the agreement on Sunday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said her country was ready to commit to providing a naval presence to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, pending parliamentary approval.
But Trump appeared to still harbor some resentment when chatting with Meloni this week during a G7 summit in France. He chided her after she told him “we’ve always been friends,” Italian media reported.
In remarks at the outset of the Pentagon meeting with his Italian counterpart, however, Hegseth thanked Italy for its “steadfast support” in hosting U.S. troops for over 80 years, saying the long-standing partnership is “more important than ever.”
Hegseth also credited Meloni and Crosetto for what he described as a growing role for Italy in Europe’s defense, according to a transcript of his and Crosetto’s opening remarks.
“We seek partners and Italy is certainly one of them,” Hegseth said. “And you’re leaning forward in that aspect.”
Some 30,000 U.S. service members, civilian personnel and family members are stationed at military bases throughout the country, the Pentagon said.
But while the U.S. did not announce any cuts to those forces in the wake of tensions over the Iran campaign, recent moves by the U.S. to reduce its NATO commitments have grabbed headlines in Italy.
For example, a senior Pentagon official last month notified NATO allies of U.S. plans to shrink the pool of military warplanes, warships and other assets and capabilities the military would make available to European member countries.
The shift in commitments to NATO is something his U.S. counterparts have been discussing for years, Crosetto told reporters after meeting with Hegseth.
“These are assets that they could withdraw from Europe and easily replace with European ones,” he said.
NATO officials have long anticipated the scaling back of U.S. commitments, which are part of an effort to prod allies to shoulder more of the burden for Europe’s defense as the U.S. refocuses its force posture on deterring China in the Pacific region.
Hegseth specifically credited Italy for its leadership of NATO’s multinational battlegroup in Bulgaria, formed in 2022 to strengthen the alliance’s eastern flank. The battlegroup is composed of about 1,000 soldiers and equipment from several allies.
The meetings came as NATO defense ministers are set to gather Thursday for high-level talks in Brussels, where discussions will center on plans to fill the gaps left by U.S. cuts, as well as increasing defense spending.
And next month, Trump is expected to attend a meeting of NATO heads of state in Ankara, Turkey, where he will also likely urge allies to take on more of the burden of defending Europe.
