Washington DC [US], March 19: US White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that NATO benefits far more than the US from the Strait of Hormuz, and as such President Donald Trump is hoping to see the European partners "do more".
US highlights energy independence and global impact
Leavitt said that US President Donald Trump's energy agenda made sure that the US has enough resources of oil.
"NATO allies benefit far more from the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz than the United States does. As you know, thanks to this president's energy agenda, we are a net exporter of oil. We have enough resources here at home for our people and that's a good thing thanks to President Trump. The Strait's opening is obviously good for America because it will stabilise the global oil industry. It will bring prices down again. But it greatly benefits Europe and our allies in NATO and the president wants to see them do more," she said.
Concerns over fairness within NATO
Leavitt also said that NATO was being unfair to the US as an ally.
"Look, I think you guys know this. One of the president's guiding principles is fairness. And he's long called out NATO for being what he believes sometimes an unfair alliance for the American taxpayer and our American military. You look at the billions of dollars we spend housing US troops on the soil of our NATO ally countries. That's a benefit to them because it serves as a deterrent from our adversaries around the world," she said.
Call for allies to step up
Leavitt said that the President is right to call upon these nations to step up.
"If you look at our unfair trade deals with many of our NATO allies, the president and his trade team have obviously worked to rectify those new trade deals with the UK, with the EU. The president wants all of our alliances to be fair for the American people, for the American taxpayer, and I think he's right to call on them to step up and do more in this," she said.
Update on military developments involving Iran
Meanwhile, over 120 naval vessels of Iran have been sunk by Israeli strikes, with Leavitt confirming the same.
"According to CENTCOM this morning, I received the updated numbers. More than 120 naval vessels are at the bottom of the sea because of our United States armed forces. That's a great thing for the American people. That's a great thing for our allies in the region. And of course, to ensure that yes, Iran cannot permanently possess a nuclear weapon is something this president has long said for decades. But I'm not going to forecast or remove any future options off the table," she said.
"We're in a place right now where we're ensuring that Iran can no longer threaten the United States of America and the United States military is doing a tremendous job at achieving these objectives," she added.
Trump criticises NATO allies
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday criticised the NATO allies for what he described as their reluctance to support the United States in its ongoing conflict with Iran, calling their stance a "very foolish mistake".
Speaking during a discussion with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin at the White House, Trump asserted that while NATO members supported US actions in principle, they failed to provide tangible assistance.
Trump stated that NATO allies had endorsed US strikes targeting Iran's nuclear capabilities but stopped short of active involvement.
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"Well, we don't need too much help, and we don't need any help actually. In fact, we just put out a notice I was watching over the last couple of weeks, and all of our NATO allies were very much in favour of what we did. They thought it was very important. We were just discussing it; actually, it's very important that we take out the nuclear threat from Iran, and we've done that very strongly, very powerfully," Trump said.
(Disclaimer: Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
