US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has urged European countries to confront what he described as an “invasion” of their coastlines by migration, using a D-Day anniversary speech in Normandy to press both cultural and security arguments central to President Donald Trump’s administration.
Speaking on Saturday at the American military cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer on the Normandy coast, Hegseth marked the 82nd anniversary of the Allied landings in northern France by drawing a direct contrast between the shared sacrifice of World War II and what he presented as today’s challenges facing Europe.
Hegseth, a former Fox News daytime television host, was appointed defence secretary under Trump’s second administration in January, before the Pentagon began using the secondary title Department of War in September 2025.
“Sadly, today different European beaches are stormed by different dangerous ideologies,” Hegseth said.
On “beaches in Spain and Italy and Greece and Bulgaria, boats and men arrive,” he added. “When will European capitals do something about that invasion? Or is it too late?”
His remarks echoed the Trump administration’s argument that mass migration poses an existential threat to European civilisation and came a day after US Vice President JD Vance blamed Britain’s handling of the murder of a white student by a Sikh man on what he called civilisational decline caused by an “invasion” of migrants.
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A pointed message from Normandy
Hegseth delivered his address in front of the 9,387 white crosses marking the graves of American soldiers killed in action during the Battle of Normandy. His comments came at one of the most resonant sites of transatlantic military memory – a place often used by US and European leaders to stress unity, sacrifice and democratic resolve.
“May we learn from this past,” Hegseth said, referring to the pivotal role played by American troops in the Allied landings of 6 June 1944.
“The men buried here fought in a war-fighting alliance where every partner... brought its full measure of industry, courage and sacrifice,” he said.
He contrasted that wartime effort with what he suggested were insufficient modern displays of resolve.
“Not empty slogans, not lavish summits, not communiques,” he said. “Real allies doing real things, taking real losses for a shared cause worth fighting and dying for.”
However, Hegseth conspicuously missed the main international ceremony marking the anniversary of the landings later in the afternoon, despite the central role of the United States in the historic operation that helped bring about the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Greater European defence effort
The defence secretary also used the speech to renew Washington’s call for Europe to shoulder more of the burden for its own security.
While America “will lead”, he said, its “capable allies must be right there with us, shoulder-to-shoulder in the breach when it matters”.
The Trump administration has repeatedly accused European countries of not doing enough to secure the continent and has at times raised the prospect of the US pulling back from NATO commitments. Hegseth’s comments in Normandy underlined that message, casting military readiness and political will as essential to peace.
“Peace is secured only through strength,” he told the audience, which included French armed forces minister Catherine Vautrin.
“And it’s strength on both sides of the Atlantic, fortified by readiness, shared military capabilities and an unwavering political will,” he added.
He did not explicitly refer to the US-Israeli war against Iran, but his language reflected the Trump administration’s broader emphasis on deterrence and military preparedness.
The Normandy landings remain the largest amphibious operation in history. On 6 June 1944, an armada of 6,939 ships carried 132,700 British, Canadian, American, Belgian, Norwegian and Polish troops towards 80 kilometres of Normandy beaches.
The operation, launched under punishing conditions and at enormous human cost, helped open a western front against Nazi Germany. Alongside the advance of Soviet forces from the east, it contributed decisively to the Allied victory in Europe.
(With newswires)
