Trump says US may not be there for NATO if needed

MIAMI: President Donald Trump on Friday reiterated his disappointment with NATO allies over their refusal to send military to help secure the Strait of Hormuz and said Washington may not help them in future if asked to do so.
Speaking to an investment forum in Miami on Friday night, Trump said he was upset that European NATO countries had declined to provide material support to the ‌US as ‌it nears the fourth week of ​its ‌ongoing ⁠war ​on Iran.
European ⁠allies were not consulted by the US on its decision to attack Iran late last month, and many leaders in the alliance opposed the action.
“They just weren’t there,” he said. “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?“
“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 voiced frustration over Western allies’ lack of support and reluctance to commit forces to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key sea lane for Gulf oil and gas exports vulnerable to Iranian attacks.
Traffic through the narrow waterway has ground to a virtual standstill, leading to a surge in global energy prices.
Six key powers including Britain, France, Germany and Japan say they are ready to “contribute to appropriate efforts” but have not made any commitment.
Trump has reserved some of his toughest criticism for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Last week, he dubbed its other members “COWARDS,” and declared the alliance was a “paper tiger” without the United States.
On Thursday, he said on his Truth Social platform that the United States “needs nothing from NATO.”
“NATO nations have done absolutely nothing to help with the lunatic nation, now militarily decimated, of Iran.”
The president has had a famously on-again-off-again relationship with the ‌alliance, and he has at various points made comments that provoked questions about ⁠his willingness ⁠to adhere to NATO’s Article 5, which states an attack against one member state is an attack on all.
On the campaign trail in 2024, Trump famously encouraged Russian President Vladimir Putin to attack European NATO countries that did not pay their fair share on defense.
His relationship with several European leaders, however, appeared to improve over the course of 2025.
But Washington-Brussels relations again soured in 2026 after Trump ramped up ​his threats to invade ​Greenland, which is an overseas territory of Denmark.