Trump suggests in new interviews he is ‘absolutely’ considering withdrawing US from ‘paper tiger’ NATO
President Donald Trump has suggested in two new interviews that he is considering withdrawing the United States from NATO after repeatedly criticizing member countries’ lack of support for the Iran war.
In an interview published Wednesday in the right-leaning British publication The Telegraph, Trump responded to a question about whether the United States was reconsidering NATO membership after the war: “Oh yes, I would say beyond reconsideration. NATO never impressed me. I always knew they were paper tigers, and (Russian President Vladimir) Putin knows that too, by the way.”
The president said in an interview with Reuters that he was “absolutely” considering withdrawing the United States from NATO and previewed criticism of the military alliance in his first address to the nation on Wednesday night.
“They weren’t friends when we needed them,” Trump told Reuters. “We never asked too much from them…it’s a one-way street.”
became members of NATO reluctant It plans to deploy military assets to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping route that Iran has effectively closed in response to U.S. and Israeli attacks.
Trump’s comments are the latest in a series of statements scoldings He made a statement to NATO members that the US “should not be there”. that on tuesday said countries He struggles to procure jet fuel due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to “gather some belated courage, head to the Strait and just TAKE IT.”
“You will have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the United States will no longer be there to help you, just as you are not there for us,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
“President Trump has made clear his disappointment with NATO and other allies, and as the President emphasized, ‘The United States will remember this,'” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement to CNN.
Could Trump withdraw from NATO?
Whether Trump can withdraw the United States from the military alliance without congressional approval may depend on the court’s analysis, according to the Congressional Research Service. report.
Despite Trump’s claims that he could withdraw the USA from the alliance, law passed by congress It notes that in 2023, action would require the advice and consent of the Senate or an act of Congress. Then-You. Marco Rubio, now the US secretary of state, was a co-sponsor of this legislation along with Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia.
Sen. Thom Tillis, the top Republican on the bipartisan Senate NATO Monitoring Group, said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week” last month that “it’s not actually true” that Trump would withdraw from NATO without Congress.
“The US president cannot withdraw from NATO. Now the president can poison the well and render it functionally dysfunctional if he wishes,” he said.
But a separate 2020 legal opinion from the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel states that the president has exclusive authority over the agreements.
Trump frequently criticized NATO
Trump’s stance was confusing to members of NATO, an alliance based on the principle of collective defense. Article 5, which states that an attack on one is an attack on all, has been applied only once in the history of the alliance, after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. More than 1,100 non-US troops were killed after the Allies joined the US war in Afghanistan.
Despite these efforts by allies, Trump has long questioned whether NATO allies “will be there” if the United States “needs them,” baselessly claiming in January that NATO troops are “standing a little bit behind” the front lines in Afghanistan. The president has continued to express doubts about the alliance since the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Trump said, “It was really hard to believe, beyond not being there. And I didn’t make a big sale. I just said, ‘Hey,’ I didn’t push too hard. I just think it should be automatic.”
“We were automatically there, including Ukraine,” he said. “Ukraine wasn’t our problem. It was a test and we were there for them and we always would be there for them. They weren’t there for us.”
Although the US has provided some military intelligence to Ukraine and allowed Europe to purchase American weapons on Kiev’s behalf, the US government has not authorized a new military or financial support package to Ukraine since Joe Biden’s presidency.
Trump singled out British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in his recent harsh remarks against NATO. Starmer initially rejected the president’s request to use British military bases in offensive operations against Iran, which Britain ruled was illegal. But Starmer joined the defense against Iranian reprisals after British military assets in the Middle East were attacked.
In the Telegraph interview, Trump mocked Britain’s warship fleet, saying: “You don’t even have a navy. You’re too old and you have aircraft carriers that don’t work.”
Referring to clean energy projects, Trump added, “I’m not going to tell him what to do. He can do whatever he wants. It doesn’t matter. All Starmer wants is expensive windmills that send your energy prices through the roof.”
Asked about Trump’s latest comments, Starmer emphasized that NATO remains “the most effective military alliance the world has ever seen”. He reiterated that Britain “will not be dragged” into war with Iran.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Kaanita Iyer, Catherine Nicholls, Lauren Chadwick and Aileen Graef contributed to this report.
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