US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth used a speech marking the 82nd anniversary of D-Day in Normandy to criticise European governments over migration, warning that some nations were failing to respond to what he described as an “invasion” arriving on their shores.
Speaking at commemorations of the Allied landings that helped liberate Nazi-occupied Europe in 1944, Hegseth drew a contrast between the soldiers who stormed Normandy’s beaches and modern migration flows into countries including Spain, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria. “Sadly, today, different European beaches are stormed by different dangerous ideologies,” he said, asking: “When will European capitals do something about that invasion?”
Hegseth also argued that some European countries had become too comfortable with the freedoms secured during World War II, saying younger generations of leaders must continue to defend those values. “The men who fought and died here restored freedom to Europe,” he said. “That freedom must be maintained by this generation of leaders and war fighters or what they fought for was merely temporary.”
The comments add to a series of criticisms of European migration policies from members of the Trump administration. Earlier on Friday, US Vice-President JD Vance linked the fatal stabbing of British student Henry Nowak to what he described as a “mass invasion of migrants.” The UK government responded by criticising attempts to interfere in British democracy and noted that the victim’s family did not want his death used to deepen divisions.
Migration remains a major political issue across Europe, where support for parties advocating stricter immigration controls has increased. The debate has continued amid ongoing arrivals by sea, while the Trump administration has also made immigration enforcement a central part of its domestic agenda, with immigration authorities carrying out thousands of arrests since January 2025.
Well, for once he is right.