Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that as the U.S. aims to "revive the warrior ethos," European members of NATO also should follow suit and bolster defense efforts. 

"NATO should pursue these goals as well," Hegseth told NATO members in Brussels on Thursday. "NATO is a great alliance, the most successful defense alliance in history, but to endure for the future, our partners must do far more for Europe’s defense."  

"We must make NATO great again," he said.  

As of 2023, the U.S. spent 3.3% of its GDP on defense spending — totaling $880 billion, according to the nonpartisan Washington, D.C.-based Peterson Institute for International Economics. More than 50% of NATO funding comes from the U.S., while other allies, like the United Kingdom, France and Germany, have contributed between 4% and 8% to NATO funding in recent years. 

Hegseth urged European allies to bolster defense spending from 2% to 5% of gross domestic product, as President Donald Trump has long advocated. 

NATO comprises more than 30 countries and was originally formed in 1949 to halt the spread of the Soviet Union. 

Hegseth pointed to former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who advocated for a strong relationship with European allies. But he noted that eventually Eisenhower felt that the U.S. was bearing the burden of deploying U.S. troops to Europe in 1959, according to the State Department’s Office of the Historian. Eisenhower reportedly told two of his generals that the Europeans were "making a sucker out of Uncle Sam." 

Hegseth said that he and Trump share sentiments similar to Eisenhower's. 

PUTIN VIEWED AS ‘GREAT COMPETITOR’ BUT STILL A US ‘ADVERSARY’ AS UKRAINE NEGOTIATIONS LOOM, LEAVITT SAYS 

"This administration believes in alliances, deeply believes in alliances, but make no mistake, President Trump will not allow anyone to turn Uncle Sam into Uncle Sucker," Hegseth said.

"We can talk all we want about values," Hegseth said. "Values are important, but you can’t shoot values, you can’t shoot flags, and you can’t shoot strong speeches. There is no replacement for hard power. As much as we may not want to like the world we live in, in some cases, there’s nothing like hard power."

Hegseth’s comments come as the Trump administration navigates negotiations with Russia and Ukraine to end the conflict between the two countries. On Wednesday, Trump called both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent traveled to Kyiv.

OBAMA OFFICIALS, TRUMP CRITICS TARGET HEGSETH'S ‘CONCESSIONS’ AS ‘BIGGEST GIFT’ TO RUSSIA 

Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are slated to meet with Zelenskyy Friday at the Munich Security Conference.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has come under scrutiny for the negotiations, fielding criticism that Ukraine is being pressured to give in to concessions after Hegseth said on Wednesday that it isn’t realistic for Ukraine to regain its pre-war borders with Russia. 

"Putin is gonna pocket this and ask for more," Brett Bruen, director of global engagement under former President Barack Obama, told Fox News Digital. 

Michael McFaul, ambassador to Russia under the Obama administration, also shared concerns in a social media post on X on Wednesday, claiming that Trump was delivering Russia a "gift." 

But Hegseth said he rejected similar accusations. 

"Any suggestion that President Trump is doing anything other than negotiating from a position of strength is, on its face, ahistorical and false," Hegseth said Thursday. 

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and Trump vowed on the campaign trail in 2024 that he would work to end the conflict if elected again. 

Fox News’ Emma Colton and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report. 

FIRST ON FOX: Expansionist rhetoric has been a major concern in NATO for several years amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but according to Greece’s top defense official, the security alliance should take seriously similar threats from within its own coalition, in particular from Turkey.

A decades-old feud over the island nation of Cyprus between Greece and Turkey, both of which have been members of NATO since 1952, has plagued the alliance for over half a century and spill-over conflicts pushed the two countries nearly to the brink of war in the 1990s. 

Though relations between Greece and Turkey have become less outwardly hostile in recent years, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s pursuit of regional natural resources coupled with his controversial geopolitical actions in the Middle East and Aegean Sea have long drawn criticism that he is looking to "recreate" the Ottoman Empire.

TURKEY AND GREECE LEADERS TO MEET, PUT FRIENDSHIP INITIATIVE TO THE TEST AMID GAZA AND UKRAINE WARS

"There's some people in Turkey that go back to the Ottoman times and believe that they could recreate the Ottoman Empire, including parts of Greece, parts of Syria, parts of Iraq, parts of Iran, half of the Caucasus, etc.," Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias said during an interview with Fox News Digital. 

"I hope that this is daydream, but it creates a lot of problems in the relations with Greece, a lot of problems within NATO."

Erdoğan, who has been president of Turkey since 2014, has long been criticized for his aggressive approach in dealing with regional nations like Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Israel, but also his oppressive practices at home that have targeted non-Sunni communities, including Shiites and Christians, journalists, women and Kurds. It's an issue that has not only blocked Turkey from joining the European Union, but has increasingly held geopolitical ramifications for the U.S. 

The U.S.’s chief ally in the fight against ISIS in Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has found itself in Ankara’s crosshairs as it views the Kurdish-affiliated force as being akin to the terrorist network, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). 

Turkey has routinely targeted the group and prompted international concern over how the SDF will be able to continue to effectively fight ISIS should the Trump administration withdraw U.S. troops from Syria.

"ISIS, let us be frank and honest, is down but not out," Dendias said. "The ideology behind ISIS, the ideology behind the Muslim Brotherhood is there, is alive and kicking. 

"And I have to say, the worst thing that you can do in life is forget your allies, forget the people who fought by your side in your hour of need, and turn against them or forget about them," the defense minister continued. "I'm speaking about the Kurds fighting against ISIS for years. They should not be forgotten by the West."

TRUMP SAYS TURKEY ‘DID AN UNFRIENDLY TAKEOVER’ IN SYRIA AS US-BROKERED CEASE-FIRE APPEARS TO FAIL

The fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime has renewed concerns over regional stability, and the close dynamic between Trump and Erdoğan has raised more questions about how the Turkish president will pursue his regional ambitions. 

Dendias argued that the close relationship allegedly shared between the two world leaders will not necessarily embolden Erdoğan and could uniquely position Trump to "whisper" in the ear of the Turkish leader and remind him that "international law, international [rules] of the sea, is a way of life in this modern world."

"I assume that it will not be good at all for NATO and would not be good at all for the United States of America to encourage Turkey to create a huge problem in the eastern front of NATO, taking also into account what's happening in the Middle East and what's happening between Russia and Ukraine," the defense minster added. 

TURKISH LEADER CLAIMS US BASES IN GREECE POSE DIRECT 'THREAT' AMID SPAT WITH ATHENS OVER NATO EXPANSION

Earlier this month, Turkey relaunched military exercises in the Black, Mediterranean and Aegean Seas known as "Blue Homeland," which Greece has long viewed as a show of force and prompted long-held maritime disputes to resurface. 

"This [is a] new Turkish neo-imperialist, neo-Ottoman approach," Dendias said. "It started appearing somewhere in the first decade of the 21st century … which, in essence, claims that half of the Greek islands in the Aegean belong to Turkey. 

"And sometimes they even go further. They claim that Crete, a huge island with very important NATO presence and an American base in Souda – again, should belong to Turkey." 

The defense minster said Greece’s tense relations with Turkey have made its defensive posture in NATO unique because it has forced Athens to be on top of its defense spending, an issue that has once again become a top matter of discussion in the NATO alliance due to Trump’s push to have all nations meet a 5% GDP spending limit, up from 2%. 

The latest NATO spending figures released in June 2024 show Greece was the fifth-highest spender on defense in the alliance, spending more than 3% of its GPD, while Turkey came in 18th and spent just over 2% of its GDP on defense.  

Dendias said European nations need to collectively agree on how they view security threat levels and the importance of defense spending.

"Regardless of President Trump's position on 5%, it's an internal issue and needs to be resolved," Dendias added.

"The biggest threat is countries that do not abide by international law and do not abide by international law of the sea. Countries that believe that borders [are] something that you can disregard, that treaties and international treaties should work only if it's to your advantage," Dendias said. "That is the biggest threat to the whole world, not just Greece."

Additional questions to Dendias about President Trump’s recent comments on his refusal to rule out military intervention in acquiring Greenland and the Panama Canal were not answered. 

The Turkish embassy in Washington, D.C. did not respond to Fox News Digital's questions but instead pointed to a statement issued by the Turkish Minister of National Defense, Yaşar Güler, who ahead of the "Blue Homeland" exercises said, "Our country, located at the very heart of a region surrounded by conflicts and disputes, consistently emphasizes its commitment to international law and peace in preventing tensions and resolving crises.

"We approach the development of our relations with our neighbor Greece within this framework and take significant steps toward resolving problems," he added. "The efforts to portray Turkey's determination to protect its rights and interests in the ‘Blue Homeland’ as ‘historical expansionism and aggression’ are nothing more than a futile attempt to disregard the rights granted to Turkey by international law. 

"However, while striving for a peaceful solution, we strongly emphasize that we will never compromise our national rights and interests," Güler said earlier this month.

After the disastrous foreign affairs failures of the Biden administration, many Americans were left wondering how a Trump administration could possibly correct course. Well, it’s finally Trump time, so here’s what one should expect.

In many ways, today’s Donald Trump resembles the one we saw in 2016. Now, as then, Trump is neither an isolationist nor an imperialist; rather, he pursues an America-first policy tempered by realism and the understanding that sometimes one must break a few eggs to make an omelet.

Similarities aside, though, the Trump of 2025 is not the same as the Trump of 2016. Today’s Trump is one of the most battle-tested leaders on the world stage, and he’s bringing that experience to bear on changing world circumstances.

While America faces the same enemies – Russia, Iran and China – those enemies are weaker than ever because of their own reckless imperial overreach. Moscow struggles to make headway on its fronts in Ukraine and beyond, Iran is stuck watching Israel take down its minions, and China faces economic woes and a tarnished global brand.

TRUMP'S TRIUMPH: FIRST WEEK PROVES PRESIDENT RIGHT IN ALL THESE WAYS

All this weakness gives Trump space to accomplish his foreign policy agenda.

First on the table is killing the Green New Deal – a completely unrealistic, unachievable policy that only benefited America’s enemies. While Iran and Russia sold fossil fuels and China bought them at cut-rate prices (and cornered the market on the sale of green technologies), the rest of the world was heading for energy poverty.

Trump plans to change all that by heading up a global campaign for reliable, affordable, abundant energy. In declaring a national energy emergency, he paved the way for America to unleash its vast oil supply more cheaply and efficiently than ever – a policy that will enable the U.S. to compete in and transform the global energy market.  

Next, Trump will restore the long-standing American tradition of peace through strength. He’s already instructed his new secretary of Defense to this end, ordering him to implement more bayonet drills and fewer drag shows. He’s warned America’s enemies to stop warmongering or risk facing consequences for their actions.

HERE'S HOW REPUBLICANS SHOULD FOLLOW THROUGH WITH THEIR TOUGH TALK ON IMMIGRATION

Even before taking office, Trump’s team helped negotiate a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel. Now he’s working to secure a similar peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.

Trump believes in putting America first, and he knows that wars (in addition to the harm they cause to innocents) are bad for business – and that means they must stop.

Similarly, Trump is putting an end to America’s endless bankrolling of other countries, demanding instead that those countries step up and start pulling their own weight. He’s informed NATO members that they need to start contributing 5% of their GDP to national defense instead of relying on the U.S. to take care of them.

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Instead of throwing taxpayer money around, Trump says it’s time to start throwing America’s weight around. That means no more underwriting the U.N.’s globalist agenda – unless, of course, it’s in America’s best interests to do so.

Nor does Trump plan to continue allowing weaknesses and backdoors in America’s own backyard. Trump’s "new Monroe Doctrine" isn’t about establishing American imperialism, but rather about ensuring American safety.

Trump seeks to secure strategic waypoints like Greenland, encourage Canada to defend the Free North, and prevent China from obtaining control of the Panama Canal. That’s not building a wall around America – it’s mowing the grass and trimming the hedges.

Finally, Trump plans to put American growth first. That means tax cuts for American workers, tariffs for American enemies, and encouragement for American allies to invest in the American economy. He’s already announced significant Saudi investment in the United States (to the tune of $600 billion), and the pressure’s on for other allies to follow suit.

All told, Trump’s foreign policy sends the message that America’s back and better than ever. Friends should step up, and enemies should watch out.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM JAMES CARAFANO

Leaders across the globe reacted to Donald Trump’s return to the White House on Monday, offering general good wishes and extending geopolitical olive branches.

While President Trump set the tone in his inaugural address and declared he would "put America first," he also drew attention to specific areas like Mexico, Panama and China – sparking more questions over how new American policies under the 47th president of the United States could take shape.

Neither the China, Mexico nor Panama governments responded to Fox News Digital’s questions following the remarks issued by Trump during his inaugural address, including when he vowed to "take back" the Panama Canal, which the U.S. fully handed over to Panama in 1999.

"China is operating the Panama Canal. And we didn't give it to China. We gave it to Panama," the president said.  "And we're taking it back."

Trump also vowed to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and pledged to reinstate his "Remain in Mexico" policies.

CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN CLAIMS TRUMP FULFILLED 'PROMISE TO BE A DICTATOR ON DAY ONE' WITH EXECUTIVE ORDERS

Panama President José Raúl Mulino issued a statement rejecting Trump’s comments and said, "The Canal is and will continue to be Panama's and its administration will continue to be under Panamanian control with respect to its permanent neutrality."

"There is no presence of any nation in the world that interferes with our administration," he added, taking issue with Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. "gave" the canal to Panama.

"Dialogue is always the way to clarify the points mentioned without undermining our right, total sovereignty and ownership of our Canal.," Mulino said. 

Reports suggested that Mexico rejected Trump's plans to implement a "Remain in Mexico" policy and during a Monday morning conference, Juan Ramón de la Fuente, Mexico's secretary for external relations, said, "If they reinstate it, this is something we don’t agree with. We have a different focus. We want to adjust it." 

"The desire is to keep the same policies as now," he added.

China does not appear to have commented publicly following Trump's inaugural address, which was attended by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng.

‘NATIONAL EMERGENCY’: TRUMP DECLARES AMBITIOUS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN IN INAUGURAL ADDRESS

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Trump on re-entering the White House and suggested he may be open to peace talks with Ukraine. 

"We see the statements by the newly elected President of the United States and members of his team about the desire to restore direct contacts with Russia," Putin said, according to a Reuters translation.

"We also hear his statement about the need to do everything possible to prevent World War III," he added. "We of course welcome this attitude and congratulate the elected President of the United States of America on taking office."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy similarly issued his congratulations just ahead of the inauguration ceremony and said, "I congratulate President Trump and the American people on the inauguration of the 47th President of the United States. Today is a day of change and also a day of hope for the resolution of many problems, including global challenges.

"President Trump is always decisive, and the peace through strength policy he announced provides an opportunity to strengthen American leadership and achieve a long-term and just peace, which is the top priority," he added.

TRUMP ORDERS US WITHDRAWAL FROM WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte offered his "warm congratulations" and in a post on X said, "With President Trump back in office we will turbo-charge defense spending and production."

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen also took to X and said the international body "looks forward to working closely with you to tackle global challenges."

"Together, our societies can achieve greater prosperity and strengthen their common security," she added. 

While many nations in Europe, including Norway, Sweden, Finland, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom, congratulated Trump, with several leaders pronouncing that the U.S. is their closest ally, other nations in Europe were less willing to issue pronounced congratulations.

French President Emmanuel Macron issued a note of warning when giving a speech to the French military on Monday.

Macron said the Trump presidency was an "opportunity for a European strategic wake-up call" and highlighted scenarios that some have feared could affect European security, like a lessening of U.S. military presence in Europe if Washington opts to shift focus toward security concerns in Asia instead. 

Just one day into the long-brokered cease-fire between Israel and Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a video message on X in which he congratulated Trump and said, "I believe that working together again we will raise the US-Israel alliance to even greater heights."

"The best days of our alliance are yet to come," he added. 

Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri also commented on the inauguration of the 47th president, saying, "We are happy with the departure of Biden, who has the blood of Palestinians on his hand," reported Reuters.  

"We hope for the end of this dark era that harmed the U.S. before anyone and that Trump can build his policies on balanced foundations that can cut the road against Netanyahu's evils that want to drown the region and the world," he added. 

As a fellow New Yorker, I had paid attention to Donald Trump for years, long before he got involved in politics.  

When he ventured a comment about foreign policy, people scoffed at him. What did Trump know! National security was the exclusive domain of the experts, not real estate developers or reality TV stars. 

But looking back, Trump was right about all the major foreign policy issues. It was the credentialed elites who got things wrong! 

Here are Trump’s top six:

OUR LONG NATIONAL BIDEN NIGHTMARE IS ALMOST OVER. TRUMP INVICTUS IS NOW LIBERATED

For decades, the consensus opinion was if the U.S. assisted China’s economic growth, it would become a friendly trading partner, and play by the rules – just like Japan, South Korea and the European nations. Trump disagreed. Experts laughed when he claimed China had ripped us off for decades. "China raided our factories, offshored our jobs, gutted our industries, stole our intellectual property, and violated their commitments under the World Trade Agreement." 

As recently as 2019, Joe Biden scoffed at the idea that China could overtake the U.S. as a world leader, telling a crowd in Iowa City, "China is going to eat our lunch? Come on, man." The experts were wrong, Trump was right.

Well before he ran for president in 2015, Trump realized recent advances in oil and gas production would be a strategic game changer for the U.S. and the world. When President Barack Obama left office, oil was at $120/barrel and experts warned the world was running out of oil.  

TRUMP CAN POWER THE US INTO THE FUTURE WITH A MUSCULAR NUCLEAR ENERGY POLICY

Trump’s embrace of the U.S. energy industry increased American production and pushed oil down to $40/barrel. Not only did it spur extraordinary American economic growth, it also devastated the economies of Russia and Iran, because they needed oil prices above $90/barrel to fund their governments. When their energy export revenues fell by nearly two-thirds in the Trump years, Russia and Iran were forced to tighten their belts; they couldn’t afford costly wars. 

Biden reversed Trump’s energy policies, and oil prices predictably rose back up to $100 per barrel. Iran used these windfall profits to fund its nuclear program and arm its proxies to attack Israel. Russia used its new-found wealth to attack Ukraine. There is a reason Russia invaded Ukraine during the Obama and Biden presidencies, but not during Trump’s. In the Trump years, they didn’t have the money to pay for expensive wars. 

Democrats and Republicans supported the Afghan and Iraq wars for 20 years. Trump disagreed. As early as 2003, he called the Iraq war "a mess." Turns out he was right. We shed American blood and spent trillions on two unwinnable, forever wars. 

THE THREAT FROM RADICAL ISLAM IS NOW INSIDE OUR GATES. BIDEN IGNORED IT. TRUMP MUST ACT

Trump pulled out of Obama’s flawed Iran nuclear deal, because it made Iran rich and didn’t stop its nuclear weapons program. He ordered the assassination of Gen. Qassam Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Quds Forces. Instead of fruitless endless negotiations, Trump set out to bankrupt Iran with his energy policy and oil sanctions. 

By the time Trump left office Iran was nearly bankrupt, and its proxy armies weakened.  But President Biden threw Iran a lifeline. He reversed course on American energy production, paid Iran billions and refused to enforce sanctions. Iran used this $100 billion windfall to fund Hamas and Hezbollah in renewed proxy wars against Israel. 

For decades, American leaders said we had to settle the Palestinian problem as the first step to a wider Arab-Israel peace. But time and again, the Palestinians refused to negotiate seriously, so peace proved elusive. 

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Trump took the opposite approach, and focused on Arab-Israeli peace as the first step. His energy policies lowered global oil prices. Arab leaders realized they could no longer count on oil export revenues alone to fund their government. They needed to diversify their economies, which required peace with Israel. 

Trump also recognized that the younger generation of Arab leaders, schooled in the West and comfortable with more open societies, would be amenable to dramatic social change and to developing economic ties with Israel. The Abraham Accords were the first peace agreements between Israel and the Sunni Gulf states – ever. Trump succeeded where all the experts had failed for decades. 

American presidents going back to John F. Kennedy complained that our NATO allies were not paying their fair share for our common defense. Obama called them "freeloaders." Our allies always made excuses, claiming they couldn’t afford to pay the 2% of GNP they had promised, and relied on America to foot the bill for their defense.

Trump hectored, scolded and threatened them until our NATO allies finally increased their defense spending. Turns out they DID have the money after all.  

For years, Washington bureaucrats, politicians and experts have been wrong about the major foreign policy problems confronting the nation. It took an outsider who saw things from a different perspective. Instead of endless rounds of fruitless diplomacy and an open checkbook, Trump used a combination of trade, economics and common sense to reestablish American security. And his second term will be even better.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM KT McFARLAND

Top Foreign Affairs Republican Sen. Jim Risch predicted the U.S. would not abandon NATO under the Trump administration – and promised to work with the new president to strengthen it instead. 

Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, who leads the powerful Foreign Relations Committee under the new Republican majority, said his number one priority is "getting Trump’s team in place." He said he is "cautiously optimistic" that they can get Marco Rubio, Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, confirmed by Inauguration Day.

Speaking with Fox News Digital one day after meeting with Trump, the chairman said he believes that Trump’s national security apparatus is going to be less frenzied this time around. 

"Anybody you talk to will tell you it’s really different this time," he said. "It’s gonna be a lot better." 

He said Trump discussed foreign policy priorities while meeting with senators on Wednesday, but declined to share details. 

Risch seems to pay little heed to Trump’s threats to pull the U.S. out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

"I think everyone's recognized now with what Russia's done, that the original founders of NATO were very right that we have to stand up and come together," he said. "I don't think anybody would have the idea that we should leave NATO."

"We had a vote here in the Congress on whether or not we should leave NATO," he went on. "Overwhelmingly, that vote passed." 

RUSSIA MONITORING TRUMP’S ‘DRAMATIC’ COMMENTS ON GREENLAND ACQUISITION

In December 2023, Congress passed legislation as part of the NDAA that barred any president from removing the U.S. from NATO without approval from two-thirds of the Senate or an act of Congress. That provision was spearheaded by Rubio. 

Risch said that after Trump’s first term and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, nations "very slowly" began to boost their military budgets. Canada is not on track to hit the 2% target until 2032. 

But now, 23 out of 32 NATO states meet the 2% target, which Republicans now say is not enough. 

Risch said he’s long had plans to work to get allies to boost their spending. 

"We're going to have to do more. So there's a lot of discussion about what that looks like, and President Trump and I think European countries are going to fall in line. They really need to."

Trump said in December that he would "absolutely" leave NATO if his terms weren’t being met. He’s long advocated for other members of the 32-member alliance to increase defense spending. 

"If they’re paying their bills, and if I think they’re treating us fairly, the answer is absolutely I’d stay with NATO," he said.

HOUSE PASSES BILL THAT WOULD SANCTION INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT FOR TRYING TO ARREST NETANYAHU

But to some, the comments were seen as leverage – a way to force nations lagging in defense spending to step it up. While NATO has long had a goal for its member states to spend 2% on defense, and many are still negligent, Trump recently moved the goalpost to 5% – more than any nation currently spends.

"They can all afford it, but they should be at five percent, not two percent," Trump said during an appearance at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday.

He complained that Europe had far more to lose than the U.S., given its geographical closeness to adversaries. 

"Europe is in for a tiny fraction of the money that we’re in [for]," Trump said during an appearance at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida late Tuesday. "We have a thing called the ocean in between us, right? Why are we in for billions and billions of dollars more money than Europe?"

Last year, the U.S. spent 3.4% of its GDP on defense. Poland spent the most, at 4.12%. 

Risch, who last led the Foreign Relations Committee from 2019 to 2021, said he plans to work with Trump on returning to a "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran, tightening sanctions to squeeze the regime’s economic system. 

"They are going to go back to the maximum pressure," he said. "I’m encouraging it." 

"The Biden administration shoveled a bunch of cash at them, begged them to come to the table for an agreement."

"Iran is going to have to make some really tough decisions, because I just don’t see, with exterior pressure they’re getting, with the interior pressure they’re getting, that they can sustain what they’ve been doing."