President Donald Trump said he’s strongly considering pulling the United States out of NATO after the alliance didn’t support his ‘Operation Epic Fury’ plans in Iran.
Trump spoke to the Telegraph and branded the transatlantic alliance as “paper tiger” and beyond “reconsideration, claiming, “I was never swayed by NATO.”
“I always knew they were a paper tiger, and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin knows that too, by the way,” he said.
The president claimed that NATO “wasn’t there for the US” when it rallied behind the alliance’s European troops during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We’ve been there automatically, including Ukraine. Ukraine wasn’t our problem,” Trump said. “It was a test, and we were there for them, and we would always have been there for them. They weren’t there for us.”
Trump has publicly stated his skepticism as early as his 2016 presidential campaign, calling it “obsolete” and costing the U.S. a “fortune” while discussing it with the Washington Post at the time. The president also lashed out over the alliance’s apparent unwillingness to help with the war in Iran, implying that the U.S. may soon no longer “be there” for its allies and blasting Europeans for failing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which serves as a vital waterway for trade along the Persian Gulf responsible for an estimated 20% of the world’s oil supply traveling through and has been blockaded by Iran in retaliation of the war, leading to a spike in gas prices.
“I’m so disappointed in NATO,” he said via the New York Post. “This was a test: you can help us — you don’t have to, but … if you don’t do that, we’re going to remember!” he said.
Recent Comments