\u2018Show guts\u2019
\n\u2018I couldn\u2019t care less. I didn\u2019t need them. But if I ever did need them, they wouldn\u2019t be there,\u2019 he says of alliance
\n Washington
\nUnited States President Donald Trump on Thursday urged the members of NATO to gather the courage to send naval vessels to the Strait of Hormuz, again disparaging the longtime military alliance.
\nAsked why he had not mentioned NATO in his Wednesday night address to the nation, Trump said it was not a NATO speech but that he had referenced the strait and those who were absent. \u201cThey gotta get guts and go in and just send your ships up there and enjoy it,\u201d he told Politico.
\nPressed on whether he was frustrated with the alliance, Trump said: \u201cI couldn\u2019t care less. I didn\u2019t need them.\u201d
\nHe added: \u201cBut if I ever did need them, they wouldn\u2019t be there.\u201d
\nNATO has invoked Article 5 \u2014 its collective defence clause \u2014 just once in its history, after the 2001 terrorist attacks on the US. NATO allies have criticised Trump for starting the war with Iran without consulting them.
\nThe remarks are the latest in a string of pointed criticisms Trump has directed at NATO over its response to the Strait of Hormuz crisis. He has previously called alliance members \u201ccowards\u201d and, in a separate interview with British daily The Telegraph, described NATO as a \u201cpaper tiger\u201d and said leaving the alliance was \u201cbeyond reconsideration\u201d.
\nLeaving NATO unilaterally \u2014 a move Trump has hinted at since his first term \u2014 would face significant legal hurdles. A 2023 law bars any US president from withdrawing from the alliance without the backing of a two-thirds majority in the US Senate.
\nThe strait, through which roughly 20 million barrels of oil pass daily, has been effectively disrupted since early March following Iranian measures taken in retaliation for the US-Israeli offensive on Iran that began on February 28.
\nTrump has repeatedly urged European allies and Gulf states to take a more active role in securing the strait, arguing that countries dependent on its oil should bear responsibility for reopening it.
\nTrump will meet with NATO chief Mark Rutte in Washington next week, according to The Wall Street Journal.
\nTrump \u2018desperate\u2019 to make deal with Iran, says ex-Pentagon adviser
\nMeanwhile, a former Pentagon adviser said recent remarks by Trump suggested he was \u201cdesperate\u201d to secure a deal with Iran to end the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
\n\u201cWhat the Iranian regime is getting from President Trump\u2019s speeches is that he is actually desperate to make a deal,\u201d former Pentagon adviser Jasmine El-Gamal told CNN.
\n\u201cThey know that if they continue to impose these costs on the US, Gulf allies, global energy markets, they have a better chance of getting to the negotiating table on their terms,\u201d she added.
\nHer comments came after Trump said on Wednesday that the US would hit Iran \u201cvery hard\u201d over the coming weeks.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re going to bring them back to the Stone Age, where they belong,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2018Show guts\u2019 \u2018I couldn\u2019t care less. I didn\u2019t need them. But if I ever did need them, they wouldn\u2019t be there,\u2019 he says of alliance Washington United States President Donald Trump on Thursday urged the members of NATO to gather the courage to send naval vessels to the Strait of Hormuz, again disparaging the longtime […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539730,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-539703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n