U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly considering pulling the U.S. out of NATO, in the latest threat to America’s allies after their reluctance to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
In an interview with The Telegraph newspaper, the president described the 77-year-old defensive alliance as a “paper tiger” and, when asked if he would reconsider the U.S.’ membership of the bloc after the Iran conflict ends, Trump told the paper: “Oh yes, I would say [it’s] beyond reconsideration.”
“I was never swayed by NATO. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way,” he said, in comments published Wednesday.
Trump has been angered by European allies’ refusal to send warships to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil and gas maritime passage controlled by Iran, and at their refusal to let the U.S. use military bases to launch attacks against the Islamic Republic.
European leaders see any attempts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as highly dangerous, as Iran continues to attack tankers in the strait that aren’t deemed to be from “friendly” nations.
Officials are also of the view that Trump’s war on Iran is one of choice, and one they were not consulted on before it began in late February. There is also a reluctance to get involved in what could become another “forever war” in the Middle East, like those in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Trump has made clear he sees this reluctance as NATO’s betrayal of the U.S. after it has helped Ukraine in its four-year conflict with Russia. Opponents of that view argue that NATO is predicated on an idea of collective defense, rather than offense.
The President told the Telegraph that he had expected allies to acquiesce to the U.S.’ request for assistance in Iran.
“Beyond not being there, it was actually hard to believe. And I didn’t do a big sale. I just said, ‘Hey’, you know, I didn’t insist too much. I just think it should be automatic,” he said, in comments published Wednesday, adding:
“We’ve been there automatically, including Ukraine. Ukraine wasn’t our problem. It was a test, and we were there for them, and we would always have been there for them. They weren’t there for us.”
Trump’s comments come after he warned the U.K. and France on Tuesday that the U.S. “won’t be there to help you anymore.”
Posting on Truth Social, Trump said, “the Country of France wouldn’t let planes headed to Israel, loaded up with military supplies, fly over French territory.”
“France has been VERY UNHELPFUL with respect to the ‘Butcher of Iran,’ who has been successfully eliminated! The U.S.A. will REMEMBER!!!,” he said in one post.
In another post, the president singled out the U.K. for criticism while urging other countries to take action in the Strait of Hormuz, the vital oil route that Iran has effectively blocked during the war.
“All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you,” Trump wrote.
“Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT.”
In his published comments on Wednesday, Trump again rebuked the U.K., suggesting that the country’s Royal Navy was inadequate.
“You don’t even have a navy. You’re too old and had aircraft carriers that didn’t work,” he said, referring to Britain’s fleet of warships.
Trump told the Telegraph he would not tell British Prime Minister Keir Starmer “what to do” when it came to increased defense spending.
“I’m not going to tell him what to do. He can do whatever he wants. It doesn’t matter. All Starmer wants is costly windmills that are driving your energy prices through the roof.”
Other senior officials have hinted that the U.S. could abandon NATO, though it’s uncertain how seriously these threats should be taken. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that Washington would have to “re-examine” its relationship with NATO once the war in Iran ended.
“If NATO is just about us defending Europe if they’re attacked but then denying us basing rights when we need them, that’s not a very good arrangement. That’s a hard one to stay engaged in and say this is good for the United States. So all of that is going to have to be reexamined,” he told Al Jazeera.
Starmer was asked to comment on the criticism from his U.S. counterpart at a press conference on Wednesday. He told reporters that there’s been “a good deal of pressure on me to change my position in relation to joining the [Iran] war, and I’m not going to change my position on the war.”
“Whatever the pressure, whatever the noise, I am the British prime minister and I have to act in our national interests,” he said.
Starmer added he would not choose between the U.S. and Europe, but signaled that the relationship with the continent was increasingly important. “I think it’s in our interest to have a strong relationship with the U.S. and with Europe,” he told reporters, adding:
“But I do think that when it comes to defense and security, energy emissions and the economy, we need a stronger relationship with Europe.”