The United States will hand over two top regional commands in NATO to European countries, diplomats said Monday, as President Donald Trump presses allies to take greater responsibility for their defence. Washington will transfer leadership of NATO’s Naples command, which focuses on the alliance’s south, to Italy and leadership of its Norfolk command in Virginia, focusing on the alliance’s north, to Britain. The United States will meanwhile take over the command of NATO’s maritime forces, based in the United Kingdom. The shuffling of NATO command positions comes as Washington has said it could reduce its defence presence in Europe to focus on other threats like China. But US NATO ambassador Matthew Whitaker separately on Monday insisted that the US leader was looking to strengthen, rather than “dismantle”, NATO by making Europe step up.

Source: Punch February 09, 2026 19:18 UTC