WASHINGTON.— This Tuesday, the president of the United States, Donald Trumpstated that the I’LL TAKE and others allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuzcomplaining that he has not been able to rally support for his chosen war in iranwhich insists that it is carrying out for the good of the worldalthough he does not appreciate your effort.
Trump, who has been pressing allies to help secure the important shipping lane and ease a bottleneck in the oil exports of the region, was furious that the United States is not receiving support “despite the fact that we help” NATO “so much,” and argued that it was in the allies’ interest to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Trump’s outraged response
The Trump’s indignant response before the refusal of the allies to get involved in the war stressed that the conflict – which is now in its third week and is causing repercussions on the world economy— is one that the international community hopes the U.S. leader will resolve himself, after started it without consultation.
“You would have thought they would have said, ‘We would love to send a couple of minesweepers.’ No big deal,” Trump said. “It doesn’t cost a lot of money. But they didn’t do it.”
While expressing resentment toward America’s traditional allies, Trump insisted he is fine with the dynamics building into the conflict, which, for better or worse, will largely fall on his shoulders alone.
Although the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahuurged him to follow this path for months, Trump has increasingly reinforced the idea that the path to conflict was chosen by a single man. It began from what Trump described as a “feeling” about the threat posed by Iran, and he has said that he will end when his instinct tells him it is time.
St. Patrick’s Day at the White House
🇺🇸 | Trump on NATO:
We help other countries. And when they don’t help us, well, that’s certainly something we should think about.
I don’t need Congress to make that decision. As you probably already know, I can take it myself. pic.twitter.com/MYEmrmlRZM
— AlertaNewsPlus (@AlertaNewsPlus) March 17, 2026
“We don’t really need any help,” Trump told reporters Tuesday while hosting the prime minister of ireland, Michael Martinfor a visit to the St. Patrick’s Day at the White House.
Trump complains about NATO allies
Trump complained that NATO allies have relied on tens of billions of dollars in American support to help Ukraine resist Russia’s invasion, but have failed to return the favor to help the United States and Israel in their efforts to neutralize Iran, which has posed a threat to the Middle East and beyond for years. The United States, he added, has spent hundreds of billions strengthening the defenses of Europe and Asia.
Trump has had an up-and-down relationship with the military alliance, a pillar of the post-war national security framework. Second World War which, according to him, had become too dependent on the United States. Trump has lashed out at the bloc’s members for spending little and has even questioned the United States’ commitment to the mutual defense statute of NATO’s founding treaty, which states that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all.
NATO exists as a defensive alliance, not an offensive one, and has said it has no plans to get involved in the US-led war against Iran. However, NATO did have troops for 18 years in Afghanistan and its 2011 air campaign helped topple Libya’s late leader Moammar Gadhafi.
“We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, especially in a time of need,” Trump wrote on social media.
Trump directed most of his irritation at NATO Trump noted that allies in Japan, Australia and South Korea — as well as China — have rejected his calls to get involved to help secure the strait, the critical shipping lane through which, in normal times, about 20% of the world’s crude oil passes each day. Asia is the region most exposed to trade disruption because it relies heavily on imported fuel, much of which passes through the strait.
It is not the war in Europe
🇪🇺🇮🇷 | EU’s Kaja Kallas on Iran:
This is not Europe’s war, but Europe’s interests are directly at stake. pic.twitter.com/0ImGvhVlWJ
— AlertaNewsPlus (@AlertaNewsPlus) March 16, 2026
The European Union’s top diplomat responded to Trump, saying the 27-nation bloc does not want to be dragged into the United States and Israel’s war against Iran and broadly rejecting Trump’s demand to send warships to Hormuz.
“This is not Europe’s war. We did not start the war. We were not consulted,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas declared on Tuesday, a day after chairing talks among member countries on Trump’s demand for warships.
“We don’t know what the objectives of this war are,” Kallas said. “Member states do not want to be dragged into this.”
Trump called the moment a “big test” for NATO and said the alliance was making “a very dumb mistake” by rejecting it.
A reporter asked Trump if he was reconsidering the United States’ relationship with NATO in light of the response to the war with Iran, or even if he was contemplating leaving the military alliance.
“It’s certainly something we should think about. I don’t need Congress for that decision,” Trump said. He added: “I don’t have anything in mind for now, but I’m not exactly thrilled.”
You might also be interested: “Trump’s antiterrorism adviser resigns; says Iran was not “an imminent threat””
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