President Trump never backs away from saying exactly what’s on his mind.
And Donald Trump spoke one word that ignited this tense exchange.
Iran’s only move to combat America, demolishing its armed forces and wiping out its leadership, was closing the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway through which 20 percent of the world’s oil passes.
By shutting down the Strait, Iran sent oil prices skyrocketing, and global markets feared an energy crisis that was worse than the 1970s.
President Trump called on NATO allies to join America in a military operation to reopen the strait and stabilize global oil markets.
Every NATO ally rejected Trump’s offer, leading to Trump ripping the alliance members as “cowards” for rejecting cooperation with America on a vital mission.
“Without the U.S.A., NATO IS A PAPER TIGER! They didn’t want to join the fight to stop a nuclear-powered Iran. Now that the fight is militarily won, with very little danger for them, they complain about the high oil prices they are forced to pay, but don’t want to help open the Strait of Hormuz, a simple military maneuver that is the single reason for the high oil prices,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “So easy for them to do, with so little risk. COWARDS, and we will REMEMBER!
NATO chief Mark Rutte appeared on Fox News Sunday, where host Shannon Bream grilled him on NATO turning its back on America.
Rutte admitted that Trump was frustrated, but claimed an alliance would eventually help America deal with the Strait.
“I know the president was angry because he feels that European and other allies have been too slow,” Rutte stated “The good news here is that, since Thursday, a group of 22 countries, most of them from NATO but also Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the UAE, and Bahrain were “coming together to make sure the Strait of Hormuz is free, is opening up as soon as possible.”
Bream then asked Rutte about how his comments “square with what you’re saying now about their willingness to show up?”
Rutte explained that he was merely offering a consolation prize in the form of an alliance to help America keep the strait open, but only after combat operations concluded.
“The United States has been planning for this for weeks,” Rutte replied. “For obvious reasons, because of security, it was impossible to share that knowledge with allies, because that would have prevented the effect of the first attack, because there was always a risk of leaking. So, I totally understand why the U.S. was not able to share this with allies.”
“But at the same time it means that European allies and partners all over the world have used the last couple of weeks to make sure that we come together, to start planning to see what we can do collectively as allies, as partners of the United States, at the moment that’s possible for the Strait of Hormuz to open up, and, therefore, answering the president’s call on this. And that’s what I told him. I said, “Hey, they are following your lead,” Rutte concluded.
NATO refusing to lift a finger in the Strait of Hormuz is why Trump routinely rips NATO members as freeloaders who leech off America, providing a security blanket and then don’t pull their own weight.
This rejection will only add support for Trump to leave NATO.
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