Trump Rages at NATO's Rutte Over Iran War, Renews Quit Threat
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- Trump met privately with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Wednesday and emerged still angry, posting in all caps that "NATO WASN'T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON'T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN."
- The meeting came hours after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire late Tuesday that includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil passes.
- White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Trump had discussed potentially leaving NATO, but a 2023 law championed by current Secretary of State Marco Rubio bars any president from withdrawing without congressional approval.
- Trump also resurrected his Greenland grievance, posting: "REMEMBER GREENLAND, THAT BIG, POORLY RUN, PIECE OF ICE!!!" after pressing earlier this year for U.S. control of the semi-autonomous Danish territory.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio met separately with Rutte at the State Department earlier Wednesday, with the State Department saying they discussed the Iran war, Russia-Ukraine negotiations, and burden-sharing with allies.
- NATO allies Spain and France restricted or forbade U.S. use of their airspace and joint military facilities during the Iran war, though both agreed to help with a post-conflict coalition to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
- Sen. Mitch McConnell issued a Tuesday night statement defending the alliance, recalling that NATO allies sent troops to fight alongside Americans in Afghanistan and Iraq after Sept. 11, 2001.
- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a frequent target of Trump's frustration, was traveling to the Gulf on Wednesday to support the ceasefire while the U.K. develops a post-conflict security plan for the strait.
Why it matters: With a fragile two-week U.S.-Iran ceasefire hinging on reopening the Strait of Hormuz — through which a fifth of global oil flows — Trump's renewed assault on NATO undermines the very alliance the administration needs to assemble the post-conflict coalition for the waterway, even as a 2023 law limits his ability to actually withdraw.
