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United States President Donald Trump has expressed disappointment with members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) for refusing to assist the country in protecting the Strait of Hormuz.
“They just weren’t there. 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 guess we don’t have to be, do we,” Trump said at an investment forum in Miami.
“Why would we be there for them if they’re not there for us? They weren’t there for us.”
NATO is a military alliance formed in 1949 after World War II by countries in North America and Europe to counter security threats, especially from the Soviet Union. Usually, if one member country is attacked, the others agree to defend it. But since the Middle East crisis began, many of the U.S allies in NATO have stood back.
Trump had called on allies in NATO to send their militaries to protect the Strait of Hormuz, which has now become vulnerable to Iranian attacks following U.S and Israeli coordinated military attacks against Iran in February. Thousands of seafarers are stranded in the waterway.
The Strait of Hormuz is a key sea lane for Gulf oil and gas exports, but traffic through the narrow waterway has ground to a virtual standstill, leading to a surge in global energy prices.
The U.S. President has repeatedly voiced his frustration over the lack of support and reluctance to commit forces to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He had threatened to cut off deals with Spain, another NATO member, for refusing it access to its military bases.
AFP reported that six powerful U.S allies, including Britain, France, Germany and Japan, said they are ready to “contribute to appropriate efforts” but have not made any commitment.
Trump called NATO’S other members “COWARDS,” and described the alliance as a “paper tiger” without the United States last week.
He said on his Truth Social platform that the United States “needs nothing from NATO” on Thursday.
“NATO nations have done absolutely nothing to help with the lunatic nation, now militarily decimated, of Iran,” said Trump.
