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US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth invoked migration during a speech marking the 82nd anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy.
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Speaking at the American cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, Hegseth said: “different European beaches are stormed by different dangerous ideologies.”
He added: “Beaches in Spain and Italy and Greece and Bulgaria. Boats and men arrive,” before asking: “When will European capitals do something about that invasion? Or is it too late?” He added: “I pray not, and I believe not.”
Hegseth did not explicitly mention immigration, but the broader Trump administration has criticised Europe’s migration policies and border security. In September, US President Donald Trump told Europe at the UN that “your countries are being ruined” by migration.
He also used the occasion to press for stronger transatlantic defence cooperation, arguing that peace depends on sustained military strength on both sides of the Atlantic.
“The men buried here fought in a war-fighting alliance where every partner… brought its full measure of industry, courage and sacrifice,” he said, adding: “Not empty slogans, not lavish summits, not communiques. Real allies doing real things, taking real losses for a shared cause worth fighting and dying for.”
Hegseth urged European allies to step up, warning that “peace is secured only through strength.”
He did not attend the main international D-Day commemorations later in the day.
The Normandy landings on 6 June 1944 remain the largest amphibious invasion in history and were pivotal in the defeat of Nazi Germany.
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