Tensions between the United States and NATO allies flared up as President Donald Trump said he was considering pulling the U.S. out of the Western military alliance due to its European members’ refusing to send ships to unblock the Strait of Hormuz.
NATO, which includes European countries, the United States and Canada, was formed in 1949 with the aim of countering the risk of Soviet attack and has been the cornerstone of the West’s security ever since.
Trump told Reuters on Wednesday that he would state in an address to the nation later in the day that he was “absolutely” considering withdrawing the U.S. from the NATO alliance.
“I’ll be discussing my disgust with NATO,” he said of the speech. Asked if he was thinking about pulling out of NATO, he said: “Oh, absolutely without question. Wouldn’t you do that if you were me?”
Trump’s remarks reflect his ongoing frustration with NATO and came just hours after his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declined to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to NATO’s collective defense, a concept that lies at the heart of the alliance.
Experts say it is not clear whether Trump could act unilaterally to leave the 77-year-old coalition, even though he frequently makes major decisions without congressional approval, some of which are held up by U.S. courts.
‘Disgust’ with NATO
Experts have warned that Trump’s repeated remarks suggesting that the United States might not honor its NATO commitments could encourage Russia to test NATO members’ readiness to enforce the alliance’s Article 5, which states an armed attack against one member state is an attack on all.
France was among the first European NATO members to react to similar comments by Trump to Britain’s Daily Telegraph published earlier in the day, in which Trump called NATO a “paper tiger” and said he was considering exiting the alliance after allies failed to back U.S. military action against Iran.
“Let me recall what NATO is,” French junior army minister Alice Rufo said – though without directly addressing Trump’s threat to leave NATO.
“It is a military alliance concerned with the security of territories in the Euro-Atlantic area. It is not intended to carry out an operation in the Strait of Hormuz, which is not in accordance with international law.”
Finnish President Alexander Stubb told Trump in a phone call that a “more European NATO” was taking shape and that Europe was shouldering more responsibility, his office said.
But Julianne Smith, who was former President Joe Biden’s ambassador to NATO, said Europe was already spending huge sums of money on its own defense, but it would “probably be the better part of a decade before they can really take on all of the roles and responsibilities that the U.S. is currently providing to the alliance.”
“There are limits because they cannot just snap their fingers and secure capabilities like air-to-air refueling or lift or intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance overnight,” said Smith, now a nonresident fellow with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
Call for calm
In Poland, Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz called for calm.
“I hope that amid the emotions surrounding the President of the United States today, a moment of calm will come,” he said. “And why? Because there is no NATO without the United States, and it is in our interest that this calm comes. But there is also no American power without NATO.”
NATO had no immediate comment.
A German government spokesperson, asked about Trump’s comment during a government press conference, said Germany remained committed to NATO. “This isn’t the first time he’s done this, and since it’s a recurring phenomenon, you can probably judge the consequences for yourself,” they said.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would act in his country’s interest, whatever the “noise”. The instability caused by the Iran war meant Britain should pivot to focus on closer economic and defence ties with Europe, he said.
Collective defence?
The Iran war has exacerbated tensions between the U.S. and Europe that have been mounting since the start of Trump’s second term in office over everything from trade to Ukraine and his demands for ownership of Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark.
Trump threatened to stop supplying weapons that Europe has been buying for Ukraine unless European allies joined a “coalition of the willing” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the Financial Times newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Asked on Tuesday if the United States was still committed to NATO’s collective defence, Hegseth said: “As far as NATO is concerned, that’s a decision that will be left to the president. But I’ll just say a lot has been laid bare.”
“You don’t have much of an alliance if you have countries that are not willing to stand with you when you need them,” Hegseth said.
France has refused to allow Israel to use its airspace to resupply a flight carrying American weapons being used in the war against Iran, and Italy denied permission for U.S. military aircraft to land at the Sigonella air base in Sicily before heading to the Middle East, sources told Reuters. Both France and Italy said it was standard policy and nothing had changed.
Spain, however, said publicly it had fully closed its airspace to U.S. planes involved in attacks on Iran.
Trump has also repeatedly blasted Britain for not joining the United States when it launched the war.
Source: Reuters
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