Trump wants to see concrete plans for securing Strait of Hormuz, NATO chief tells U.S. allies

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has told several of America’s allies that President Trump wants to see ironclad commitments in the coming days for help to secure the Strait of Hormuz, the Reuters news agency quoted two European diplomats as saying on Thursday.

After meeting Wednesday with Mr. Trump at the White House, Rutte told CNN the president was “clearly disappointed with many NATO allies” for refusing to join the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, adding: “I can see his point.”

Since the war began, Mr. Trump has derided NATO allies as “cowards” and the alliance itself as a “paper tiger.” He’s suggested he could move to unilaterally withdraw the U.S. from the alliance he helped to found more than 70 years ago.

After his meeting with Rutte, Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social: “NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN.”

Weighing in again with a new post on Thursday morning, he said “none of these people, including our own, very disappointing, NATO, understood anything unless they have pressure placed upon them!!!”

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told CNBC on Wednesday: “If the U.S. or any other NATO ally is asking (for) our support, we are always ready to discuss it … But for that, we need of course the official ask to discuss then, what is the mission, what is the goal?”

If allies “need our support,” he added, “then we need to plan together.”

President Trump did not consult with America’s NATO allies before launching the joint war with Israel against Iran, only demanding that they join the effort after the fact.