President Donald Trump has sent shockwaves around the world after threatening to pull the United States out of NATO.
Trump said he was ‘absolutely’ considering quitting the alliance and said he planned to torch his allies over their failure to help the US in its war against Iran during his address to the nation at 9pm ET.
‘I’ll be discussing my disgust with NATO,’ Trump told Reuters. Asked if he was thinking about pulling out of NATO, he said: ‘Oh, absolutely without question. Wouldn’t you do that if you were me?’
The move would effectively dismantle the world’s most powerful military bloc and leave Europe’s security in disarray. Founded in 1949, it’s currently a club of 32 countries across North America and Europe.
The President has called the 32-member bloc a ‘paper tiger’ which America’s adversaries do not take seriously.
Trump’s threat to quite NATO comes as European countries have turned their backs on the Iran war. France‘s Emmanuel Macron has called the strikes ‘outside of international law’, while Britain’s Keir Starmer has said it is ‘not our war.’
European nations, including Italy and Spain, have barred US warplanes from landing at bases and flying through their airspace as Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz sends global oil prices skyrocketing.
Trump told allies they should ‘go to the Strait and just take it’ and added that they should either buy US crude or ‘go get your own oil.’
President Donald Trump has sent shockwaves through the world after threatening to pull the United States out of NATO
Trump has warned he is strongly considering pulling the US out of NATO in his latest attack on the ‘paper tiger’
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike hits a building near the airport road in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 31, 2026
Shortly after Trump’s fiery comments, Sir Keir Starmer said NATO is ‘the single most effective military alliance the world has ever seen’
The President in a separate interview with the Daily Telegraph warned that his opinion of NATO, a frequent target of his criticism, had reached its lowest ebb.
‘I would say it’s beyond reconsideration,’ Trump said last night. ‘I was never swayed by NATO. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way.’
Trump admitted he has long harbored ‘doubts’ about NATO’s credibility; the lack of support in the Middle East appears to be the final straw for the commander in chief.
Since the start of the war with Iran, the US has unsuccessfully tried to lobby his NATO allies into joining the fight.
The defense bloc has also been reluctant to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway that ordinarily sees 20 percent of the world’s oil pass through every day.
Following the establishment of a blockade, Iran has all but closed the Strait for weeks, sending oil and gas prices soaring.
NATO’s reluctance on the fight in the Middle East appears to have irked Trump, who said: ‘Beyond not being there, it was actually hard to believe. I just think it should be automatic.
‘We’ve been there automatically, including Ukraine. Ukraine wasn’t our problem. It was a test, and we were there for them, and we would always have been there for them. [NATO] weren’t there for us.’
Trump attended a bilateral meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting on January 21 in Davos, Switzerland.
Finland’s President Alexander Stubb, Netherlands’ Prime Minister Dick Schoof, France’s President Emmanuel Macron, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, US President Donald Trump, Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban stand with NATO country leaders for a family photo during the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
The annual meeting of political and business leaders came amid rising tensions between the United States and Europe over a range of issues, including at the time, Trump’s vow to acquire Greenland. He has since let go of that ambition, at least for the time being
He also accused the UK being weak and accused the Royal Navy of not being in a good enough shape to fight: ‘You don’t even have a navy. You’re too old and had aircraft carriers that didn’t work.’
Shortly after Trump’s fiery comments, Sir Keir Starmer said NATO is ‘the single most effective military alliance the world has ever seen.’
He also said he would only act in the interests of Britain, adding of the Middle East conflict: ‘This is not our war, and we’re not going to get dragged into it.’
He said the UK will host an international diplomatic conference this week on ways to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Earlier, Trump said the US could end its Iran offensive in two to three weeks and will shift responsibility for the Strait of Hormuz to countries that rely on it for oil and shipping as the White House announced a prime-time presidential address Wednesday evening on the war.
Trump expressed frustration Tuesday with allies who have been unwilling to do more to support the US’ war effort, telling them to ‘go get your own oil.’
He recently has flip-flopped between insisting there is progress in diplomatic talks with Iran and threatening to widen the war.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged receiving direct messages from US envoy Steve Witkoff.
He insisted, however, that there were no direct negotiations and said Iran has no faith that talks with the US could yield any results, saying ‘the trust level is at zero.’
‘You cannot speak to the people of Iran in the language of threats and deadlines,’ Araghchi said.
Asked if the United States would launch a ground war in Iran, Araghchi dismissed the idea.
‘I do not think they would dare to do such a thing,’ he said. ‘Very heavy casualties would await them.’
