President Donald Trump on Friday reiterated his frustration with NATO allies for their refusal to send troops to help secure the Strait of Hormuz and said Washington may not help them in the future if asked.
“They just weren’t there,” he said at an investment forum in Miami. “We spend hundreds of billions of dollars a year on NATO, hundreds, protecting them, and we would have always been there for them, but now, based on their actions, I think we shouldn’t be, right?”
“Why would we be there for them if they’re not there for us? They weren’t there for us.”
Since the start of the US-Israeli offensive against Iran a month ago, Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration at the lack of support and reluctance of Western allies to commit forces to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping lane for Gulf oil and gas exports that is vulnerable to Iranian attacks.
Traffic through the narrow waterway has come to a virtual standstill, leading to a spike in global energy prices.
The six major powers, including Britain, France, Germany and Japan, say they are ready to “contribute to appropriate efforts” but have made no commitments.
Trump has reserved some of his harshest criticism for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Last week, he called its other members “COWARDS” and declared that the alliance was a “paper tiger” without the United States.
On Thursday, he said on his Social Truth platform that the United States “doesn’t need anything from NATO.”
“NATO countries have done absolutely nothing to help the insane, now militarily devastated nation of Iran.”
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