President Donald Trump sent his clearest warning yet to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Sunday: stand with the US in defending the Strait of Hormuz or face a “very bad” future.
“It is only fitting that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help ensure that nothing bad happens there,” Trump said. told The Financial Times in an interview Sunday. “If there is no response, or if it is a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO.”
Trump reiterated those comments Sunday evening in a news conference aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington, D.C., after a weekend at Mar-a-Lago, saying it would be “nice to have other countries there, and we’ll help — we’ll work militarily.”
“Remember, as in many cases where NATO countries are an example, we are always there for NATO,” Trump told reporters, pointing to “helping them with Ukraine” even though “it doesn’t affect us between us.”
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President Donald Trump has issued a number of stern warnings to NATO to defend the world or face a “very bad” future. (SAUL LOEB/AFP)
“But we helped them,” he added, repeating his comments to the United Nations General Assembly last fall, questioning whether NATO “will always be there for us.”
Trump is seeking help from NATO allies in securing oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz for the rest of the world. Trump administration officials have reiterated during the strait choke that the U.S. under Trump is a net exporter of oil, getting only a fraction of its oil from the Middle East — unlike the rest of the world, including NATO allies.
“It would be interesting to see which country wouldn’t help us with a very small undertaking, namely keeping the Straits open, and that is a small undertaking in comparison. [ask]Trump added to reporters from Air Force One. “It’s small because Iran has very little firepower.”
A time-lapse video shows maritime traffic moving through the Strait of Hormuz. (Kpler/Maritime traffic)
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Trump remained optimistic that NATO allies will eventually come on board.
“We’re talking to other countries about working with us on strait surveillance, and I think we’re getting a good response,” Trump told reporters on AF1. “If we do, that’s great, and if we don’t, that’s great.”
The Iranian regime is using naval mines, of which it has stockpiled thousands, to make crossing the Strait of Hormuz difficult and deadly. (Win McNamee/Getty Images; Eranicle/iStock)
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NATO has long been a point of contention for Trump, who during his first administration had to repeatedly rely on member organizations to meet even the 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) spending threshold. Trump’s current US ambassador to NATO, Matt Whitaker, has praised this second administration for getting NATO to spend 5% of GDP on defense spending.
