NATO is facing fresh questions about internal divisions after the Trump administration reportedly excluded several major European allies from a Pentagon-led gathering planned for Poland next month.
According to Politico, the meeting is being organized by Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby and is intended to function as a working group focused on the future of the alliance. Six diplomats familiar with the planning reportedly said countries such as the United Kingdom, France and the Baltic states were not invited, despite their importance to NATO and their defense contributions.
The NATO Invitation List
NATO allies reportedly invited to the Poland gathering include Norway, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Germany and the Netherlands. The absence of Britain, France and the Baltic countries has attracted attention because the excluded governments are deeply involved in European security and, in the Baltic case, are directly exposed to concerns over Russia.
Politico reported that diplomats from countries left out of the gathering are questioning whether the administration is beginning to divide the alliance into favored and less-favored groups. The report comes against a backdrop of increasingly forceful U.S. demands that European allies assume greater responsibility for their own defense.
The United States has also been making changes to its military posture in Europe. In May, the Pentagon announced reductions in U.S. forces stationed on the continent while saying Poland remained a “model U.S. ally” and that Washington would retain a strong military presence there.
From “Naughty and Nice” to NATO’s Future
NATO has already been dealing with pressure over defense spending, Ukraine policy and the extent of the U.S. commitment to European security. NATO members agreed in 2025 to a long-term target of spending 5 percent of GDP on defense and defense-related areas by 2035, reflecting Trump’s long-standing demand that European allies carry more of the burden.
The reported Poland meeting adds a different issue: who gets to participate in discussions about the alliance’s future. The administration had previously threatened to distinguish between governments that follow Washington’s priorities and those that do not, using the “naughty and nice list” language reported by Politico.
That approach has produced concerns among some European diplomats that NATO could become less cohesive if major decisions are increasingly discussed in smaller groups rather than through the alliance’s full membership. The concern is particularly relevant for the Baltic states, which have repeatedly identified Russia as a central security threat and sit on NATO’s eastern flank. A recent report on CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s Moscow visit said he warned Russian officials against escalating against Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
At the same time, the administration’s supporters can argue that smaller working groups allow Washington to work more closely with governments that share its defense priorities and are prepared to increase military spending. The reported Poland meeting therefore does not by itself mean NATO is being formally reorganized or that the excluded countries have been removed from the alliance.
But the symbolism is significant. Britain and France are among NATO’s major military powers, while Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania occupy a strategically sensitive position on the alliance’s eastern border. Leaving such countries outside a meeting about NATO’s future is likely to generate questions about whether Washington is pursuing a new model of alliance management.
The Poland gathering will therefore be watched not simply for what is discussed inside the room, but for who is allowed into it. For an alliance built around collective defense and consultation, the guest list itself has become part of the story.
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