News

Evening Brief: Hegseth Pushes NATO for More Spending, Poland Postpones Black Hawk Acquisition, Transgender Troops Face Choice

BY Guy D. McCardle

As NATO scrambles to meet Hegseth’s 5% defense demand, Poland ditches its Black Hawk deal, transgender troops brace for forced separation, and Trump rings up Xi to hit pause—briefly—on a trade war that’s far from over. It’s Friday, June 6, 2025 and here is your Evening Brief.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivers a forceful message in Brussels, urging NATO allies to double down on defense spending ahead of the summit in The Hague. Image Credit: KXLG.com

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is turning up the heat on NATO allies, pushing hard for them to commit to a bold new defense spending goal—5% of GDP. That’s more than double the current 2% benchmark, and he’s not just tossing around suggestions. Hegseth says he’s confident a consensus is within reach ahead of the NATO summit in The Hague, and he’s making it clear this isn’t a polite request—it’s a necessity. In meetings held recently in Brussels, he emphasized that deterrence doesn’t come from symbolic meetings or vague pledges. It comes from tanks, troops, aircraft, and the readiness to use them.

Advertisement

“Hard power,” as he calls it, is the real backbone of alliance security—and it can’t just be the United States footing the bill.

Not every country is on board yet, but Hegseth has been walking the line between encouragement and pressure. Some allies are ready to step up, while others are dragging their feet. To help close the gap, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte pitched a compromise: 3.5% for direct military defense and another 1.5% for other security investments like cyber defense and intelligence gathering. Hegseth backed the proposal and reiterated that the 5% target isn’t just a goal—it’s a done deal in his eyes, and a key part of President Trump’s NATO agenda.

Behind closed doors, there’s undoubtedly some arm-twisting going on, and Hegseth isn’t ruling out using the threat of reduced U.S. support as leverage. The message is simple: NATO needs to be more than a club with a shared history;  it needs to be a coalition that can fight and win, together.

Advertisement

 

Poland Rethinks Black Hawk Helicopter Deal

Poland has hit the brakes on a major military buy, scrapping its plan to acquire 32 S-70i Black Hawk helicopters from Lockheed Martin. The announcement came on June 6, 2025, with the Polish Armament Agency stating that shifting defense priorities drove the decision. In plain terms, Warsaw is reassessing what it really needs in light of today’s security threats. According to agency spokesperson Grzegorz Polak, the military might now put its money into other gear—think drones, tanks, or upgraded communications—rather than helicopters.

Advertisement

The call isn’t about production delays or contract hiccups. It’s a strategic shift, tied to classified defense plans and a broader effort to keep pace with the rapidly changing geopolitical landscape. Still, not everyone’s thrilled. Former defense minister Mariusz Błaszczak slammed the move as a “disgrace,” warning it could stall Poland’s effort to modernize its rotary-wing fleet. But the bigger picture tells a different story—Poland isn’t backing down on defense upgrades. In fact, they recently inked a deal for 96 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters to phase out their aging Mi-24s.

So while the Black Hawks are off the table for now, the Poles are still arming up, just with a different playbook.

 

Transgender Troops Have a Decision to Make

Transgender troops in the U.S. military are now facing a hard deadline from the Pentagon. As of June 6, 2025, those diagnosed with gender dysphoria are being told to either voluntarily separate or prepare to be involuntarily discharged. This policy, which went into effect despite ongoing legal challenges, has been greenlit by the Supreme Court. It’s not a small bureaucratic shuffle—it’s a major shakeup. Currently, there are approximately about 4,200 transgender service members in the US military.

Troops who choose to leave voluntarily by the deadline get more generous separation pay. Miss that window, and not only is the payout smaller, but they might also have to repay any bonuses they’ve received.

The military isn’t wasting time. The Army and other branches are already putting together lists of who’s affected, using everything from medical records to past requests for grooming waivers to public social media posts. Once identified, service members are labeled non-deployable and have 30 days before they’re either reassigned or shown the door. During that time, they’ll stay on admin leave, still drawing full pay and benefits. But the writing’s on the wall.

This new policy also bars transgender individuals from enlisting and affects cadets in ROTC and military academies.

In short, for transgender troops currently serving, the choice is clear: leave now on your own terms, or be pushed out with fewer benefits and limited options.

 

Trump Has Direct Conversation with China’s Xi

On June 5, 2025, President Donald Trump picked up the phone and dialed Beijing, kicking off his first direct conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping since returning to the White House. The 90-minute call was all business—focused almost entirely on trade—and both sides called it constructive.

Trump wanted to cool things down after weeks of tariff threats and tit-for-tat moves over critical minerals that had global markets on edge. The result? A temporary pause in the trade brawl, with both leaders agreeing to restart negotiations and get their teams back to the table to hash out the details.

They even traded invitations for official visits, hinting at a possible return to high-level diplomacy. But let’s not sugarcoat it—this was a band-aid, not a cure. The thornier issues like Taiwan, fentanyl trafficking, and the tug-of-war over global supply chains weren’t resolved and weren’t expected to be. Both nations are still accusing each other of breaking past agreements and using economic weapons to get their way.

So while the phone call was a step in the right direction, don’t expect a quick fix. The U.S. and China are still locked in a high-stakes competition, and this trade truce might end up being just a breather before the next round.

 

 

Advertisement

What readers are saying

Generating a quick summary of the conversation...

This summary is AI-generated. AI can make mistakes and this summary is not a replacement for reading the comments.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR