Trump eyes ultimate revenge on NATO allies who failed to support Iran war as concern grows amid tenuous peace plan

Donald Trump plans to take revenge on NATO allies who do not support his war in Iran by potentially removing US troops from member countries.

The President was reportedly considering the drastic move after meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday, at a time when the gap between Washington and the alliance is widening.

Trump, who recently suggested that the United States may leave the alliance, expressed his anger towards the bloc in a harsh social media post on Wednesday night.

“NATO WAS NOT THERE WHEN WE NEEDED IT, THEY WON’T BE THERE WHEN WE NEED IT AGAIN,” Trump wrote in a post written in all capital letters. ‘DON’T FORGET GORENLAND, THAT BIG, BAD RUNNER, ICE PIECE!!!’

Trump was talking about his potential attempt to annex Greenland, which is under Danish control. Rutte was among NATO leaders who lobbied Trump not to seize Greenland.

As a result of the frustration with the alliance, administration officials said: Wall StreetJournal It is stated that Trump may move troops stationed in NATO countries that refuse to help him conduct a military campaign against Iran.

Trump is reportedly considering several different plans, but the military plan has received the most support from senior White House officials.

Canada, the Czech Republic, Albania, North Macedonia, Lithuania and Latvia are among NATO members that openly support attacks against Iran.

A fireball rises from a building hit by an Israeli air strike in the Abbasiya region on the outskirts of the city of Sur in southern Lebanon. The Israeli army is still carrying out attacks because Israel says the ceasefire with Iran does not include conflict with Hezbollah.

An Iranian woman attended the ceremony held on the 40th day of the murder of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The United Kingdom, Portugal and Germany allowed the United States to use military bases, but some NATO members remained neutral.

Trump was also angered that NATO allies Spain and France banned or restricted the use of their airspace or joint military facilities for the United States.

Trump’s biggest disappointment came after he repeatedly and unsuccessfully demanded that his allies send warships to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

But France, Spain and other countries agreed to help an international coalition to open the Strait of Hormuz once the conflict ends.

His disdain for the alliance is particularly growing after Germany, France, Britain, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and Finland sent troops to Greenland in a show of unity amid Trump’s attempts to seize the region.

Rutte detailed Trump’s disappointment in an interview on Wednesday.

“He is clearly disappointed with many NATO allies and I can understand what he means,” Rutte said. CNN After his summit with Trump

‘But I also managed to point out that the vast majority of European countries are helping with basing, logistics, overflights and fulfilling commitments.’

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte met with both Trump and Foreign Minister Marco Rubio on Wednesday.

Rutte was among NATO leaders who lobbied Trump not to take over Greenland

However, Rutte did not directly respond to whether Trump had threatened to pull the US out of NATO.

Washington Post He noted that Rutte appeared to have dissuaded Trump from any plans to end US participation in NATO.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters ahead of the meeting: ‘I have a direct quote from the President of the United States regarding NATO and I will share it with all of you: ‘They have been tested and they have failed.’

‘And I would add that it is quite sad that NATO has turned its back on the American people for the last six weeks when the American people are funding their defense.’

Leavitt said: ‘Withdrawing from NATO… is something the President will discuss in a few hours’ [Rutte] and maybe you’ll hear directly from the President after that meeting.’

In 2023, Congress passed a law preventing any US president from withdrawing from NATO without his approval.

Trump has long been a critic of NATO, and during his first term, he claimed that he had the authority to leave the alliance, which was established in 1949, against the Cold War threat posed by the Soviet Union to European security.

The essence of the commitment made by the 32 member states is a mutual defense agreement in which an attack on one is considered an attack on all.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters ahead of the meeting that Trump was considering leaving NATO

It was only activated in 2001 to support the United States following the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

It is unclear whether the Trump administration will challenge the law preventing the president from withdrawing from NATO.

When the law was passed, it was supported by Trump’s current Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who was then a senator from Florida.

Rubio met separately with Rutte at the State Department on Wednesday morning ahead of the White House talks.

The State Department said in a statement that Rubio and Rutte discussed the war with Iran, US efforts to negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, as well as “increasing coordination with NATO allies and shifting the burden.”

Trump has previously threatened to leave NATO and has frequently said he would abandon allies that do not spend enough on their military budgets.

Former NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said in his latest memoir that he feared Trump might leave the alliance in 2018, his first term as president.

This happened just a day after the ceasefire agreement, with Trump’s hopes of ending the war dim.

Trump is unhappy that many NATO allies, including British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, are refusing to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz

The Strait of Hormuz controls about 20 percent of the world’s oil and natural gas, but was effectively closed by Iran on February 28 in retaliation for joint US-Israeli attacks.

Vice President J.D. Vance, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to visit Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on Saturday for the first round of peace talks.

But on Wednesday, Iran accused the United States of violating three of Tehran’s ten conditions for a ceasefire.

Parliament Speaker Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf said on Wednesday that a ceasefire and negotiations with the United States to end the war were ‘unreasonable’.

In his social media post, Qalibaf, a key figure in Pakistan-brokered negotiations to end the conflict, objected to Israel’s continued attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon, the alleged drone strike on Iranian airspace after the ceasefire took effect, and the Trump administration’s claim that Iran would not accept any enrichment capabilities as part of a deal to end the conflict.

It comes as a shaky ceasefire is at risk of being eroded by significant disagreements between the sides, each claiming victory in the conflict.

In a post on Truth Social just before midnight, Trump announced that all US military personnel and weapons will remain in place until, in his words, the ‘REAL DEAL’ is reached.

‘If for some reason, which is highly unlikely, then ‘Shooting’ Beginnings’ will be bigger, better and stronger than anyone has ever seen before. A long time ago, despite all false rhetoric to the contrary, it was agreed that NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL NOT BE USED and that the Strait of Hormuz WILL BE OPEN and SAFE.’

Israeli strikes hit busy commercial and residential areas in central Beirut without warning on Wednesday, just hours after a ceasefire was declared in the US-Israeli war against Iran.

Lebanon said at least 182 people were killed and hundreds injured, making it the deadliest day in the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Trump told PBS NewsHour that Lebanon was not included in the agreement because of the militant group.

“This is a separate conflict,” he said when asked about Israel’s latest attacks.

Israel had said that the agreement did not cover its war with Iran-backed Hezbollah, but Iran and mediator Pakistan stated that this was the case.