Middle East and North Africa

Welcome back to Foreign Policy’s Situation Report. It’s been an eventful week in Washington, between a shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner and a visit from King Charles.

There’s no shortage of news to discuss, so here’s what’s on tap for the day: A European view on U.S. President Donald Trump’s Hormuz showdown, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s heated appearances on Capitol Hill, and Kid Rock’s U.S. Army helicopter joyride.

Welcome back to Foreign Policy’s Situation Report. It’s been an eventful week in Washington, between a shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner and a visit from King Charles.

There’s no shortage of news to discuss, so here’s what’s on tap for the day: A European view on U.S. President Donald Trump’s Hormuz showdown, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s heated appearances on Capitol Hill, and Kid Rock’s U.S. Army helicopter joyride.

One of the most prominent side narratives of the U.S. war with Iran has been U.S. President Donald Trump’s ire at NATO’s European members for their perceived lack of support for the war effort. In the past month, Trump has slammed the trans-Atlantic alliance as a “paper tiger” and mused (again) about pulling the United States out of it; his administration is reportedly weighing punitive measures against individual members, including suspending Spain (which there is currently no NATO mechanism for).

Some of those European countries are now preparing to get involved by readying a joint naval force to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, but they will only do so once a “stable cease-fire” has been achieved, Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken told SitRep in Washington on Wednesday. “We’re not going in when the ballistic missiles are going up and down,” he said.

Francken was in town to meet with senior Pentagon officials including U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The Belgian official had some positive updates to share with them: A new report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute this week found that Belgium’s defense spending in 2025 went up by 59 percent compared to 2024, the highest percentage increase of all European countries.

“That’s what they want,” Francken said, referring to the Trump administration’s repeated demands that European countries ramp up their defense........

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