The Trump administration has reportedly drawn up a “naught or nice”-style list of NATO allies, separating them into different categories based on how the U.S. grades their contribution to the alliance.
The reported effort comes as President Donald Trump has furiously denounced the transatlantic alliance for not doing more to support the U.S. war against Iran.
A European diplomat told Politico the reported list appears to be an extension of an idea Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth floated in December, when he told a defense forum that “model allies” will receive the “special favor” of the U.S. and nations “that still fail to do their part for collective defense will face consequences.”
“The White House has a naughty and nice paper so I guess the thinking is similar,” the diplomat said.
Hegseth has used the “model ally” language in meetings with NATO members, another diplomat told the outlet. The list was reportedly prepared in advance of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s visit to Washington earlier this month.
The Independent has contacted the White House, the Pentagon, and NATO for comment.
The reported list could prompt the U.S. to take adverse actions against alliance members, which could range from moving U.S. troops to blocking sales of American defense tech to allied nations, though observers told Politico these moves might end up harming the U.S. more than the countries it is allegedly seeking to punish.
“They don’t seem to have very concrete ideas…when it comes to punishing bad allies,” a European official told the outlet. “Moving troops is one option, but it mainly punishes the U.S. doesn’t it?”
While the White House has not confirmed the existence of the list, nations like Poland and Romania would be likely to get positive marks from Trump.
The former is one of the biggest spenders on defense in the alliance, while the latter has allowed U.S. forces to use an air base in the country as part of the Iran war.
Most other NATO nations have declined to join in the war, a stance that angered President Trump.
During a speech last week, the president claimed NATO offered belatedly to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“I told them I would have liked your help two months ago, but now I really don’t want your help anymore, because they were absolutely useless when we needed them,” Trump said at an event in Arizona. “But actually we never needed them. They needed us.”
“If it teaches us any one thing, we have to rely on ourselves,” the president said elsewhere in his remarks. “We can’t rely on outside countries and outside sources.”
The president’s frustrations with NATO have been evident throughout the war.
“NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN,” Trump wrote on social media after he met with Rutte.
Tensions were already high between the White House and NATO before the Iran war began in February.
The president has clashed with NATO over his desire to take over Greenland, and he has hammered European allies for not spending more on defense.
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