‘Tremendous mistake,’ says Trump as he threatens to cut NATO spending over Iran war snub
US President Donald Trump on Friday sharply criticised Nato allies for refusing to send military support to secure the Strait of Hormuz. He warned that Washington may not come to their defence if they ask for help in the future.
Speaking at an event in Miami, Trump said, “They just weren’t there. We spend hundreds of billions of dollars a year on NATO, hundreds, protecting them, and we would have always been there for them, but now, based on their actions, I guess we don’t have to be, do we?”
His remarks come amid growing tensions following what has been widely described as a “snub” by key NATO members. Countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain have declined to join a U.S.-led military coalition aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping route that Iran shut at the onset of the war.
Washington has been trying to build an allied coalition to keep the Strait of Hormuz open after Iran shut the narrow passage at the start of the war. So far, most Western allies have declined to join. India has also stayed out of the coalition, saying it is watching developments closely and pushing for dialogue and diplomacy.
Trump has extended the pause on possible US strikes against Iranian energy sites to ten days, with a new deadline of April 6. There are also reports that Vice President JD Vance may visit Pakistan for backchannel talks with Iranian officials.
The war in West Asia, which began on February 28, is now in its fifth week and shows no sign of ending. What started as a military conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran is fast becoming a global energy crisis. Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil moves, is putting serious pressure on international supply chains.
On the ground, over one million Iranians have reportedly signed up to fight. Many have joined paramilitary groups such as the Basij and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The US has deployed 1,500 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to the region. The Pentagon is also weighing the deployment of up to 10,000 additional troops for possible ground operations.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthi movement issued a direct warning on Friday. The group said it would enter the war if US-Israeli strikes continued against Iran or if more countries joined the fight against it.
The Houthis have previously attacked ships in the Red Sea during regional conflicts but have not yet intervened in this war.
In a statement, the group said, “We affirm that our fingers are on the trigger for direct military intervention,” adding that it would act if another nation joined the US-Israeli side or if the Red Sea was used for “hostile operations.”
