Trump tells ‘useless’ Nato to stay away after UK and France vow to protect Strait of Hormuz shipping
Donald Trump told “useless” NATO to stay away from the Strait of Hormuz after Britain and France said they would work to protect shipping “as soon as conditions allow”.
In another explosive remark, the US president, who has been heavily critical of the key alliance, once again accused it of being “useless when necessary” and called it a “paper tiger”.
The criticism came after Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron vowed to lead a “multinational mission” aimed at protecting ships passing through the vital waterway, which Iran has agreed to reopen during a ceasefire with the US.
“This will be strictly peaceful and defensive, a mission to secure commercial shipping and support mine clearance,” the prime minister told a meeting of world leaders in Paris on Friday.
“We invite all countries interested in the free flow of global trade to join us. Some have already indicated they are ready to contribute. We will take this forward with a military planning conference in London next week where we will announce more details about the composition of the mission, and more than a dozen countries have already offered to contribute assets.”
However, immediately after the announcement, the US president responded on Truth Social: “Now that the Strait of Hormuz situation is over, I got a call from NATO asking if we needed help. I TOLD THEM TO STAY AWAY UNLESS THEY WANTED TO FILL THEIR SHIPS WITH OIL. They were useless when needed, Paper Tiger! President DJT”
As talks were held in the French capital, Iran said it had reopened the strait to ships, a move welcomed by the US president.
In another post on Truth Social, he thanked the Tehran regime, writing: “Iran announced that the Persian Strait is fully open and ready for full passage! Thank you!” He added that Iran had agreed “never to close the Strait of Hormuz again.”
Iran has effectively shut down a key shipping lane vital to the world’s oil supply since the US-Israeli bombing campaign began in late February, causing energy and fuel prices to soar worldwide.
Mr. Trump said the waterway was “fully open and fully ready for passage” and that Iran, with U.S. assistance, had “removed or removed all of its naval mines.”
But the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports “will remain in full effect” until “our agreement with Iran is 100 percent complete,” he said.
Following the announcement, oil prices fell sharply and global stock markets rose.
Reacting to the news, Sir Keir said: “We welcome the announcement made during our meeting, but we need to make sure that it is a proposal that is both permanent and actionable and, if anything, it reinforces the need for the work we have done this afternoon because we are very clear that the mission we have put together is a defense mission and that comes after the ceasefire.”
Mr Macron said: “Recent events are encouraging, even if we must remain cautious.”
Conflict in the Middle East strained transatlantic relations; Mr. Trump has repeatedly condemned NATO allies for refusing to support military operations against Iran.
In a separate Truth Social post, the US president said Washington would take all of the highly enriched uranium that scientists believe was buried under debris after the US attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities last summer.
“The USA will receive all Nuclear ‘Dust’ created by our massive B2 Bombers – No money will change hands in any way, shape or form,” he wrote.
