President Donald Trump’s new plan is sending a ripple effect around Europe, with NATO members now planning an emergency meeting at the White House. 

Since his first term in office, President Trump has insisted that Europe must pay its fair share for NATO. The president stepped up those demands in 2025 with the addition that America’s European allies must take more responsibility for the security of the continent. 

According to reports in the Daily Mail, President Trump is considering relinquishing America’s leadership role in NATO. 

The Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) is the top military commander of NATO’s Allied Command Operations, responsible for leading all NATO military operations in Europe. The SACEUR is based at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Casteau, Belgium. 

Since NATO’s formation after World War II, the SACEUR has always been a senior United States general. Reports suggest that Trump expects a British or French general to take up this position once he enacts his plan. 

Just before taking office in January, Trump made it clear that his call for NATO members to spend more on their security will be back on the agenda. 

“I think NATO should have 5% [of their GDP as a NATO contribution target],” he said in January. “They can all afford it, but they should be at 5%, not 2%”, Trump said in January. 

Data from NATO shows that many member countries, including Canada, Spain, and Italy, failed to meet the 2% threshold. 

News of Trump’s plan comes one day after Fox News reported that some GOP leaders are calling for the U.S. to leave NATO. In the wake of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s White House drama, Nato countries got together in London to draw a peace plan without the U.S. This move angered Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), who immediately led the call for the United States to leave NATO. 

“If NATO’s moving on without the U.S., we should move on without NATO. Time to leave,” Lee wrote in an X post. 

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) also supported the idea of the United States leaving NATO.

“NATO and the UN push a globalist agenda that is America Last.  The US should not send one more dollar to these orgs & countries. NATO is pushing to drag the US into WW3 but they’re not even paying their fair share! NO MORE! IT IS TIME FOR THE US TO WITHDRAW FROM NATO NOW!,” The Florida lawmaker wrote on X. 

It’s not clear if Trump plans to leave NATO altogether. However, reports suggest the president privately floated the idea of pulling America out of the military alliance during his first term in office.

As reported by the Daily Mail, diplomatic sources indicated that British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were prepared to join President Volodymyr Zelensky in a visit to Washington as soon as next week. Their goal would be to present a unified stance on the proposal to former U.S. President Donald Trump.