BRUSSELS (AP) — The Pentagon on Thursday pressed U.S. allies at NATO to prove they are stepping up their defense of Europe as Washington shifts its attention to security challenges closer to home and in the Indo-Pacific region.
The U.S. has begun cutting the forces it has stationed in Europe — around 80,000 are still deployed — and the Pentagon has launched a review to establish how deep further cuts should be.
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NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, right, and United States Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby leave the podium after addressing the media at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, right, greets United States Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby prior to a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
United States Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby addresses the media at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
From left, U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker, U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte walk together after addressing the media at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
A strong U.S. presence is key to NATO’s ability to deter adversaries in Europe, such as Russia.
The cuts will depend on how effectively European allies and Canada respond to a U.S.-demand to overhaul NATO. It would see them take over the conventional defense of Europe. The U.S. would provide backup, including with nuclear weapons, only if needed.
After a briefing at NATO headquarters in Brussels, U.S. Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby praised Germany and Poland, as well as Scandinavian countries, for their efforts.
But he told reporters: “We hope to see more from countries like the United Kingdom.”
Colby said Washington’s aim is to bring “NATO to a more realistic, fit-for-purpose, fit for time, more balanced structure. And so that’s the spirit we’re going to continue pursuing our Europe posture review in.”
The Pentagon has circulated a survey seeking written answers to questions about how allies plan to meet the U.S. aims.
“We just received several of the questionnaires, so we’re looking forward to reviewing them,” said Colby, without saying which countries had responded.
The survey includes demands for information not related to NATO, such as whether allies will grant U.S. forces unfettered access to their bases and airspace. Some in Europe hesitated when the United States launched its war on Iran without consulting them.
“Europe has an interest in making sure that also that Iran doesn’t get a nuclear weapon, which is of course our objective,” Colby said. “We need to be able to have the ability to operate effectively. We need predictability.”
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, right, and United States Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby leave the podium after addressing the media at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, right, greets United States Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby prior to a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
United States Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby addresses the media at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
From left, U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker, U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte walk together after addressing the media at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer charged with shooting a man and lying about it during the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis was released from a Texas jail on Thursday after a judge refused to order his return to Minnesota.
Christian Castro was released at the break of dawn from a detention center in Brownsville. He motioned his hand toward a few camera operators and a reporter crowding around him and quickly got into an SUV that drove off.
A day earlier, U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. wrote that he couldn't prevent a county sheriff from releasing Castro, nor could he order Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to sign his extradition warrant.
Castro is charged in Minnesota with assault and falsely reporting a crime in the Jan. 14 shooting of 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis.
Castro allegedly fired through the front door of a Minneapolis home, wounding Sosa-Celis in the leg. Prosecutors say Castro also falsely accused Sosa-Celis and another man of attacking an ICE officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel.
After a Minnesota judge issued a nationwide warrant for Castro's arrest in May, authorities, including Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, arrested Castro in Cameron County on May 29. Minnesota authorities then sought his extradition as he remained in custody in Brownsville, a city bordering Mexico.
Texas law required him to be released after 90 days if he was not extradited, which Abbott has so far refused to allow.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison had sought a temporary restraining order to block Castro’s release, warning that he could flee to Mexico. Minnesota's filing cited calls Castro made from jail to a woman in Mexico, talking “about marrying her and buying a house in Mexico when he is released."
The judge conceded in Wednesday's order that Castro could flee the country but said “the threat of injury by itself does not create an issue ripe for adjudication.”
Texas attorneys on Tuesday argued the judge could not rule on a decision that’s still pending. Abbott has not denied the extradition. Instead he is waiting for the outcome of an internal state investigation considering whether Castro was legally a “fugitive” under the Extradition Clause, the lawyers said.
“The Court concludes that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction because the case is not ripe for adjudication,” the judge's order read. “Minnesota cannot premise its causes of action on the allegation that Governor Abbott may violate those authorities in the future; it must prove that a violation has already occurred.”
The judge said in his order that the extradition laws do not outline how long the Texas governor can take to make that decision.
Abbott said last week he would not respond to the extradition request, citing the ongoing investigation into fraud in government social service programs in Minnesota, which President Donald Trump used to justify his immigration crackdown there.
After the judge's decision, Ellison posted online that the Texas governor had an obligation to extradite Castro — and that instead, “Greg Abbott is turning Texas into a sanctuary state for violent criminals.”
Abbott responded to Ellison online as well.
“You guys are such bad lawyers. You showed up unprepared, uninformed & unpersuasive,” Abbott wrote online. “You don’t know the law & it showed.”
The Texas governor accused Minnesota of refusing to enforce immigration laws and threatened to send immigrants in the future to their state as he did with New York City, when thousands were released into Texas under President Joe Biden's administration.
A message seeking reaction from Ellison was sent to his office Thursday.
Valerie Gonzalez reported from McAllen, Texas. Associated Press writer Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this story.
The Carrizalez-Rucker Cameron County Detention Center, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Christian Castro was held, is shown in Brownsville, Texas on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Gonzalez)
Cameron County Sheriff Manuel Treviño speaks during a news conference outside of the Carrizalez-Rucker Cameron County Detention Center shortly after Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Christian Castro was released in Brownsville, Texas on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Gonzalez)
A vehicle waits outside of the Carrizalez-Rucker Cameron County Detention Center for the release of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Christian Castro in Brownsville, Texas on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Gonzalez)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Christian Castro gets into a car surrounded by news reporters moments after being released from the Carrizalez-Rucker Cameron County Detention Center in Brownsville, Texas on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Gonzalez)
FILE - Hennepin County attorney Mary Moriarty holds up a document containing charges against ICE agent Christian Castro during a news conference at the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis, on Monday, May 18, 2026. (Renée Jones Schneider/Minnesota Star Tribune via AP,File)
