Washington, United States. Tensions between the United States and its NATO allies intensified after President Donald Trump said he was considering pulling the U.S. out of the alliance over European members’ refusal to send ships to unblock the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump comments follow Pentagon remarks
Trump’s remarks on Wednesday came hours after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declined to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to NATO’s collective defence, a core principle of the alliance.
“I was never swayed by NATO. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and (Russian President Vladimir) Putin knows that too, by the way,” Trump told Britain’s Daily Telegraph, adding he had moved “beyond reconsideration” of U.S. membership.
Background on NATO and Article 5
NATO, formed in 1949, includes European countries, the United States and Canada, and was established to counter the risk of Soviet attack. It has since been a cornerstone of Western security.
Experts have long warned that suggestions the United States might not honour NATO commitments could encourage Russia to test members’ readiness to enforce Article 5, which states that an armed attack against one member state is an attack on all.
European responses
France was among the first European NATO members to react, without directly addressing Trump’s threat to leave NATO.
“Let me recall what NATO is,” French junior army minister Alice Rufo said. “It is a military alliance concerned with the security of territories in the Euro-Atlantic area. It is not intended to carry out an operation in the Strait of Hormuz, which is not in accordance with international law.”
In Poland, Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz called for calm. “I hope that amid the emotions surrounding the President of the United States today, a moment of calm will come,” he said. “And why? Because there is no NATO without the United States, and it is in our interest that this calm comes. But there is also no American power without NATO.”
How do you think the dispute over the Strait of Hormuz could affect NATO’s cohesion?
