In a move that could significantly impact international relations, Donald Trump is reportedly considering withdrawing American forces from NATO countries that did not back his military approach toward Iran. This potential action comes as Trump contemplates retaliatory measures against allies he feels have not supported his strategies.
Following a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Trump is said to be weighing this drastic step amidst escalating tensions between the United States and the transatlantic alliance. This consideration reflects the growing discord between Washington and NATO.
Trump’s dissatisfaction was evident in a sharp social media post where he criticized NATO’s lack of support. “NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN,” he declared emphatically. He further referenced Greenland in his critique, calling it “that big, poorly run, piece of ice.”
This mention of Greenland harks back to Trump’s controversial idea of acquiring the territory, currently governed by Denmark. Rutte, along with other NATO leaders, had advised against such an acquisition, adding to the friction.
Due to this discontent with NATO’s stance, administration insiders revealed to The Wall Street Journal that Trump is contemplating the redeployment of troops from nations within the alliance that declined to endorse his military initiatives against Iran.
As a result of his frustration with NATO, administration officials told The Wall Street Journal that Trump may move troops stationed in NATO countries that refused to help him wage a military campaign against Iran.
Trump is reportedly mulling over several different plans, but the military scheme has gained the most backing from senior White House officials.
Canada, Czech Republic, Albania, North Macedonia, Lithuania, and Latvia are among the NATO members who have publicly backed the strikes on Iran.
Donald Trump is reportedly mulling a plan to remove troops from NATO allies who haven’t supported the war in Iran
The news comes as Trump is set to begin peace talks in earnest, with JD Vance leading a delegation to Islamabad on Saturday
The United Kingdom, Portugal and Germany have allowed the US to use military bases, but some NATO members have been neutral.
Trump was also angered as NATO allies Spain and France forbade or restricted use of their airspace or joint military facilities for the US.
Trump’s greatest disappointment comes after having repeatedly and unsuccessfully demanded allies send warships to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
France and Spain and other nations, however, agreed to help with an international coalition to open the Strait of Hormuz when the conflict ends.
His disdain for the alliance has been brewing, especially after Germany, France, the UK, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, and Finland all moved troops to Greenland in a show of unity amid Trump’s attempts to acquire the territory.
Rutte elaborated on Trump’s frustration in an interview Wednesday.
‘He is clearly disappointed with many NATO allies, and I can see his point,’ Rutte told CNN following his summit with Trump.
‘But at the same time, I was also able to point to the fact that the large majority of European nations has been helpful with basing, with logistics, with overflights, with making sure that they live up to the commitments.’
Secretary General of NATO Mark Rutte met with both Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio Wednesday
Rutte was among the NATO leaders that lobbied Trump not to take over Greenland
Rutte, however, would not directly answer whether or not Trump threatened to pull the US out of NATO.
The Washington Post noted that Rutte appeared to have talked Trump out of any plan to end the US’ involvement with NATO.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters before the meeting: ‘I have a direct quote from the President of the United States on NATO, and I will share it with all of you: ‘They were tested and they failed.’
‘And I would add, it’s quite sad that NATO turned their backs on the American people over the course of the last six weeks, when it’s the American people who have been funding their defense.’
Leavitt said: ‘Withdrawing from NATO… is something that the President will be discussing in a couple of hours with [Rutte] and perhaps you’ll hear directly from the President following that meeting.’
Congress in 2023 passed a law that prevents any U.S. president from pulling out of NATO without its approval.
Trump has been a longtime critic of NATO and in his first term had suggested he had the authority on his own to leave the alliance, which was founded in 1949 to counter the Cold War threat posed to European security by the Soviet Union.
The crux of the commitment its 32 member countries make is a mutual defense agreement in which an attack on one is considered an attack on them all.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters before the meeting that Trump was considering quitting NATO
The only time it has been activated was in 2001, to support the United States in the wake of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
It’s unclear if the Trump administration would challenge the law barring a president from pulling out of NATO.
When the law passed, it was championed by Trump’s current secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who at the time was a senator from Florida.
Rubio met separately with Rutte on Wednesday morning at the State Department ahead of the White House talks.
In a statement, the State Department said Rubio and Rutte had discussed the war with Iran, along with US efforts to negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war and ‘increasing coordination and burden shifting with NATO allies.’
Trump has previously threatened to leave NATO and often said that he would abandon allies who don’t spend enough on their military budgets.
Former NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, in his recent memoir, said he feared that Trump might walk away from the alliance in 2018, during his first term as president.
It comes during a tenuous moment in Trump’s hopes of bringing the war to an end just a day following the ceasefire agreement.
Trump has been unhappy with several NATO allies’ refusal to help Trump militarily in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer
The Strait of Hormuz handles around 20 per cent of the world’s oil and gas but has effectively been shut down by Iran in retaliation over the joint US-Israeli attacks launched on February 28
Vice President JD Vance, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to visit Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, for a first round of peace talks on Saturday.
However, on Wednesday Iran accused the US of breaking three of Tehran’s ten conditions for the ceasefire.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said Wednesday that a ceasefire and negotiations with the U.S. on ending the war is ‘unreasonable.’
Qalibaf, a key figure in the Pakistan-brokered negotiations to end the conflict, objected in a social media post to the continuation of Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon, an alleged drone incursion into Iranian airspace after the ceasefire was in effect and the Trump administration’s assertion that it won’t accept any Iranian enrichment capabilities as part of an agreement to end the conflict.
It comes as the not yet day old ceasefire appears at risk of fraying over significant disagreements between the parties who each are claiming victory in the conflict.
Trump, in a post to Truth Social just before midnight, announced that all US military personnel and weaponry would remain in place until what he termed as the ‘REAL AGREEMENT’ was reached.
‘If for any reason it is not, which is highly unlikely, then the ‘Shootin’ Starts,’ bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before. It was agreed, a long time ago, and despite all of the fake rhetoric to the contrary – NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS and, the Strait of Hormuz WILL BE OPEN & SAFE.’
Israeli strikes hit busy commercial and residential areas in central Beirut without warning on Wednesday, hours after a ceasefire was announced in the US-Israeli war with Iran.
Lebanon said at least 182 people were killed and hundreds were wounded, making it the deadliest day in the latest Israel-Hezbollah war.
Trump told PBS News Hour that Lebanon was not included in the deal because of the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group.
When asked about Israel’s latest strikes, he said, ‘That’s a separate skirmish.’
Israel had said the agreement does not extend to its war with the Iran-backed Hezbollah, although Iran and mediator Pakistan said it does.
