Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivers remarks from the Pentagon, Jan. 30, 2025. (Alexander Kubitza/U.S. Navy)
STUTTGART, Germany— Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will swing through Europe next week, making his first overseas trip that will include stops in Germany and Poland to meet with troops.
Hegseth, during a town hall meeting at the Pentagon Friday, said that the trip will involve his attendance at a NATO defense ministers meeting on Thursday in Brussels.
Hegseth said his wife, Jennifer, will accompany him on the tour and meet with military families.
“She’s going to meet with husbands, wives and spouses on that trip. Go see schools go, go see faith groups, childcare centers to get a real pulse of what that is and then make sure we’re funding it,” Hegseth said.
The tour will entail a stop in Stuttgart, Germany, home to U.S. European and Africa Commands. However, Hegseth said he would be skipping out on attending the Munich Security Conference, an annual three-day gathering of global leaders that begins next Friday.
“We’re instead going to Poland to see the troops out there and we’re going to Germany to see EUCOM and AFRICOM,” he said. “I would much rather talk to troops than go to cocktail parties. That’s my job.”
Hegseth didn’t specify where he will be going in Poland, but the country has become a focal point for the U.S. Army in Europe.
In March 2023, the Army established its first permanent garrison in the Polish city of Poznan, which hosts V Corps. There also is an array of rotational units, including a tank brigade, fanned out across the country with the task of deterring Russian aggression on NATO’s eastern flank.
