US President Donald Trump, on Wednesday, launched severe criticism of NATO for not helping the United States on Iran. This comes after several NATO allies and key European partners of the United States refused to get involved in the West Asia crisis, with many leaders saying that the US–Israel–Iran conflict is not their war and that’s why they would not engage in it.
This stance taken by European leaders for their respective countries has upset President Trump, and he has been verbally attacking them since the conflict began.
US President Donald Trump’s Statement
In an interview with Fox Business, President Donald Trump said, "I'm doing a great job for the country and for the world. You know, we've had no help - zero - from NATO. We're there for them; they're not there for us. We spent, you saw the chart that came out a couple of days ago, with a big monster red ball that was us and all these little satellite balls, and it represented the money spent on military and NATO."
"And it's ridiculous. They should have done better. They should have said, 'We'll send somebody.' It's a small operation compared to a big operation, but NATO was not there for us. And what it means is that if they're not there for us here, they're not going to be there for us. So why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars a year on NATO if they're not going to be with us? If they're not going to be with us on Iran, they're not going to be with us on a much bigger subject than Iran," added President Trump.
President Trump Threatens To Pull Out Of NATO
Earlier, on April 2, President Trump said that he is strongly considering pulling the United States out of NATO while ratcheting up his criticism of European leaders, exposing a wider rift in the transatlantic alliance.
While Trump’s talk of a possible NATO pullout dates back years, his comments to The Telegraph newspaper in the UK were among the clearest and most disparaging yet, suggesting that the fracture may have deepened to a point of no return.
About the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
Founded on April 4, 1949, by 12 member nations, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) is a military alliance formed to ensure collective defence and security among its members. It was initially created to counter the influence of the Soviet Union during the Cold War, which collapsed in 1991.
Apart from the geopolitical realities of today, and President Trump’s comments on Greenland and Europe’s role in the Iran crisis, NATO remains very much intact and has over 30 member countries, mainly from Europe and North America.
