Secretary of War Pete Hegseth reportedly pulled the plug on plans to reduce U.S. troop counts in Europe, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Hegseth’s plans were cancelled shortly before he was going to make the announcement at a meeting in Brussels in June, the WSJ reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The proposal was reportedly nixed after it was shared with Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio and other senior White House officials.

The proposed cuts to the number of U.S. troops in Europe have been trickling into effect since May.

The Pentagon and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The reported plan to announce the troop cuts was teased by multiple moves by the U.S. military to remove troops and equipment from Europe.

The Department of War (DOW) was planning to pull an estimated $50 billion in equipment from Europe, Reuters reported on June 17, citing anonymous sources. (RELATED: Senate Wades Even Deeper Into Bloody Years-Long Proxy War In New Defense Bill)

One-third of the F-15 and F-15E fighter jets, a fifth of KC-135 and KC-46 refueling aircraft and half of the MQ-4 and MQ-9 Reaper drones will be leaving the theater, along with half of the strategic bombers and aircraft carriers, Reuters reported, citing anonymous sources.

An F15 fighter plane takes off from RAF Lakenheath at sunset on January 07, 2026 in Mildenhall, England. There have been recent reports of increased United States Air Force aircraft arriving at American bases in England this week, including RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Naval assets in the region will also be severely affected, with nearly half of the maritime patrol aircraft, nearly half of the destroyers and the only cruise missile-laden submarine leaving, Reuters reported.

However, the removal of these assets is now unclear as the more recent WSJ reporting appears to fly directly in the face of these proposed cuts.

Even earlier than Reuters reporting, the total number of brigade combat teams was cut from four to three, according to a Department of War press release on May 19.

Each brigade combat team contains over 4,000 soldiers, artillery and numerous heavy weapons, according to the U.S. Congressional Budget Office.

However, even this proposed plan seemed to be quickly counterbalanced by a May 21 statement from President Donald Trump on Truth Social.

“Based on the successful Election of the now President of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, who I was proud to Endorse, and our relationship with him, I am pleased to announce that the United States will be sending an additional 5,000 Troops to Poland. Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Trump wrote in the Truth Social post.

Meanwhile, Congress is still doubling down on its support for Ukraine in the Russo-Ukrainian war. The Senate is floating continued “intelligence support” to help Kyiv take back Crimea and other Russian-held territories.

“The Secretary of Defense shall provide intelligence support, including information, intelligence, and imagery collection authorized under title 10, United States Code, to the Government of Ukraine for the purpose of supporting military operations of the Government of Ukraine that are intended to defend and retake the territory of Ukraine,” according to Section 1223 of the proposed Senate version of the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

However, the NDAA is currently on unstable footing due to drama on Capitol Hill; however, the escalation in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict goes beyond heresay in Washington.

Ukrainians launched an attack on a dormitory in Russian-held Luhansk on May 23, Reuters reported, citing Russia’s human rights commissioner, Yana Lantratova. The Russians retaliated for the dormitory attack by using an Oreshnik missile, 600 strike drones and 90 air- sea- and ground-launched missiles on May 24, The Associated Press reported, citing the Ukrainian Air Force.

“These [strikes] were concentrated in Kyiv, and the really big deal was that they used at least one Oreshnik, possibly two,” a former senior researcher at the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs, Philip Pilkington, previously told the DCNF. “Now they’ve used that before in the East against a factory … that was engaged in missile production or jet engine production, but the fact that they used an Oreshnik in Western Ukraine, near to Kyiv, was kind of a big deal.”

Pilkington said the May 24 Russian attack on Kyiv was a direct escalation in the war.

“Russia is clearly moving up the escalation ladder … that’s what that is,” Pilkington previously told the DCNF. “The Russians could have done this strike a year ago, they could have done it 18 months ago, and they’re doing it now because they see it as climbing one rung up the escalation ladder.”

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