President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused America’s North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies of being reluctant to get involved in the Iran war, before insisting that the United States does not need any support for its ongoing military operations.
President Trump spoke in the Oval Office with the prime minister of Ireland, which is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and said the alliance of 32 European and North American nations was “making a very stupid mistake.”
Mr. Trump, a longtime critic of NATO, accused the group of taking advantage of U.S. spending and military power and said its members’ reluctance to join the Iran war was “a great challenge, because we don’t need them, but they should have been there.”
President Trump has said in recent days that many countries will join the coalition to support the United States in Iran, including helping secure the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping route that has been cut off by the war.
He called on “the countries of the world that receive oil through the Strait of Hormuz” to “be mindful of shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz.” But so far, NATO countries have not committed to doing so.
In a post on Truth Social earlier Tuesday, President Trump said he was “not surprised” by NATO because he sees it as “a one-way street, we protect them and they don’t do anything for us.”
“Thanks to the fact that we have had such military successes, we no longer ‘need’ or want the assistance of NATO countries – we never did!” Trump wrote.
Oil prices rose shortly after Trump’s post, casting doubt on the prospects for a multi-state coalition to reopen the vital strait.
In remarks from the Oval Office, President Trump suggested that his long-awaited trip to China to meet with President Xi Jinping would take place in “about five or six weeks.”
Trump had been expected to leave for the summit at the end of March, but his administration has indicated in recent days that a postponement is likely.
The date change coincided with new turmoil between the two superpowers related to the war with Iran, a major seller of oil to China, and a new U.S. investigation into China’s trade practices.
