NORFOLK, Virginia — Since the beginning of the war with Iran, the president has had harsh words for NATO. Eight months in, the situation may be settling down as NATO allies look for ways to take on a greater role.

On board the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in early October, the U.S. Navy turned over control of NATO Joint Force Command Norfolk to a non-American for the first time. British General Nick Perry was diplomatic at the handover. "What a privilege to take command. What an honor for the United States to allow NATO's Joint Force Command to be based here, and we'll continue to deter, continue to be vigilant and continue to show that we're ready to war fight if necessary," he said.

Norfolk, Virginia, is the home of the only NATO commands in North America. Having Europeans take over the day-to-day role of monitoring the Atlantic, Arctic and the High North was part of the effort to make the alliance more palatable to a Trump administration that openly questions the value of the alliance.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared on Fox News in April to express the Trump administration's frustration during the early months of the war with Iran. "Unfortunately, we are going to have to reexamine whether or not this alliance, that has served this country well for a while, is still serving that purpose, or is it now become a one-way street," Rubio said.

Since the early months of the war, the U.S. military has increasingly relied on NATO bases in Europe as Iran attacks U.S. bases in the Middle East. The U.S. has already begun replacing troops permanently based in Europe, along with their families, with shorter rotations. When Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced the idea to build a new base inside the U.S., he said some of the troops would come from overseas bases that the U.S. pulled back to the western hemisphere.

At the same time, Joint Force Command Norfolk has been expanding from just 47 military and civilian personnel in 2024 to more than 500 troops from 26 NATO countries, as more European countries rush to send troops to show the U.S. they are still ready to help with the NATO mission. The recent agreement between Trump and Denmark over Greenland helped cool tensions after Trump threatened to take the territory by force.