Trump says he is ‘absolutely’ considering withdrawing US from Nato | Nato

Donald Trump said he was “absolutely” considering withdrawing the US from NATO, warning the issue was “beyond reconsideration” after US allies refused to join the US-Israeli war against Iran.

A former US ambassador has warned that the president’s most determined threats yet leave the alliance facing the worst crisis in its 77-year history.

Trump has long been a vocal skeptic about the benefits of NATO membership to the United States, but as North Atlantic allies have refused for a month to join the faltering U.S.-Israeli offensive on Iran, the president has stepped up his rhetoric.

He told Reuters news agency on Wednesday he was “absolutely without question” considering withdrawal, after telling the Telegraph the matter was “beyond reconsideration”, insisting he had never been “swayed by Nato”. He signaled that he would voice his disgust with NATO in his address to the nation on Wednesday evening.

Trump’s formal withdrawal from the 1949 Washington Treaty, NATO’s founding document, may be politically and constitutionally difficult; but Ivo Daalder, the US permanent representative at NATO headquarters from 2009 to 2013, argued that serious damage had already been done to the alliance.

Daalder wrote: “This is the worst crisis NATO has ever faced. Military alliances are, at their core, based on trust: trust that if I am attacked, you will come and help defend.” a review online. “It is now difficult to understand how any European country could and would be willing to rely on the United States to defend itself.”

Trump launched the war against Iran on February 28, jointly with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu but without consulting NATO allies. he didn’t call article 5 of the treatyIt is a system that triggers collective defense from other members in the event of an “armed attack against one or more members in Europe or North America”. No such attack took place.

More than a month after the war, there is no sign of the regime change or collapse that Trump and Netanyahu had hoped for, and Tehran’s response – closing the economically vital Strait of Hormuz – has caused a rise in oil prices and worldwide shortages of fertilizers and other essential goods, threatening a global recession.

Trump has wavered between asserting that a negotiated end to the war is imminent and threatening a ground attack, while also urging U.S. allies to join the war and force the reopening of the strait. None of Washington’s traditional partners stepped forward. Some European allies declared the US-Israeli attack illegal, and some banned overflight rights and use of bases on their territory.

As a result, Trump attacked European capitals, accusing them of being “cowards” and expressing disdain for Britain in particular. “You don’t even have a navy,” Trump told the Telegraph. “You’re too old and you have aircraft carriers that don’t work.”

Anti-NATO rhetoric was echoed by US defense secretary Pete Hegseth and secretary of state Marco Rubio, who was a staunch supporter of the alliance when he was a senator.

“We’re going to have to re-examine whether this alliance that served this country well for a while still serves that purpose or whether it’s become a one-way street, whether America is in a position to help Europe, but whether our allies are giving us basing rights and overflight rights when we need their help,” Rubio told Fox News.

British prime minister Keir Starmer shrugged off the administration’s jibes as “noise” and insisted that “NATO is the most effective military alliance the world has ever seen.” He restated his stance on the Iran conflict as “this is not our war and we will not be dragged into it.”

In response to earlier criticism of Trump, Britain and other European allies increased defense spending and tried hard to persuade Trump to continue US support for Ukraine’s defense against Russia, but with increasingly limited success. NATO secretary general Mark Rutte did his best to flatter Trump to the point of expressing support for the Iran war, despite opposition from nearly all of the alliance’s other 31 members.

“Supporting an ally when 31 others oppose is not the best way to preserve unity,” Daalder said. “We also now know that Trump is doing his own thing and not listening to anyone, including Trump whisperers.”

In an effort to “protect” the alliance from Trump, Congress passes legislation National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) A provision in 2024 that prohibits a U.S. president from unilaterally withdrawing the United States from NATO without the approval of two-thirds of the Senate or an act of Congress; This provision was co-sponsored by Rubio. The NDAA also prohibits the use of any federal funds to facilitate withdrawal.

“Congress will not remain silent as this president tries to unravel an alliance that has kept Americans safe for decades,” Democratic senator Mark Warner said Wednesday. “Our commitment to NATO is firm and we will use every tool at our disposal to defend it.”

Any attempt to formally leave NATO would trigger a constitutional crisis that would likely go to the US supreme court. But the court has a record of siding with the executive branch in disputes over foreign policy issues.

“Other presidents have withdrawn from agreements,” Daalder said. “In any case, regardless of his legal status, Trump could weaken NATO by withdrawing troops, withdrawing U.S. personnel from the NATO command structure, and doing little or nothing in the event of an attack—all of which are perfectly legal.”

Ruth Deyermond, senior lecturer in war studies at King’s College London, said the crisis facing the alliance would not easily disappear at the end of Trump’s tenure in the White House.

“This is wishful thinking,” Deyermond said Said on Bluesky social media platform. “Failing to understand the importance of the alliance to US security and taking allies for granted is not unique to the Trump administration.”

“This is why the old NATO is gone, and the Europeans (plus Canada) need to develop a new security framework to replace it,” he said. “It’s scary, difficult and expensive, but that doesn’t make it any less necessary or urgent.”

Starmer signaled on Wednesday that he would use an upcoming summit with EU countries to solidify economic and security ties, calling for: “A partnership we must navigate together for the dangerous world.”