U.S. President Donald Trump said in two new interviews that he is considering withdrawing the United States from NATO after repeatedly criticizing its members for their lack of support for the war with Iran.
Asked in an interview published by right-leaning British publication The Telegraph on Wednesday whether he would reconsider U.S. membership of NATO after the war, Trump said: “Oh, yeah, I would say (it’s) impossible to reconsider. I’ve never been swayed by NATO. I’ve always known they were paper tigers, and by the way, Putin (Russian President Vladimir) knows that too.”
The president stressed in an interview with Reuters that he was “absolutely” considering withdrawing the United States from NATO and was expected to criticize the military alliance in a prime-time address to the nation on Wednesday night.
“They were not friends when we needed them,” Trump told Reuters. “We’ve never asked for much from them … it’s a one-way street.”
NATO members have been reluctant to deploy military assets to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping channel that Iran effectively closed in response to U.S. and Israeli attacks.
Trump’s comments were the latest in a series of accusations he has leveled at NATO members for not “standing up” for the United States. On Tuesday, he told countries struggling to procure jet fuel because of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to “must up some belated courage, go to the Strait and take it.”
“You have to start learning how to fight for yourself, America will no longer be there to help you, just like you are no longer here for us,” the president wrote on The Truth Society.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement to CNN, “President Trump has made clear his disappointment with NATO and other allies, and as the president has emphasized, ‘America will remember.'”
Can Trump withdraw from NATO?
Whether Trump can withdraw the United States from military alliances without congressional approval may depend on court analysis, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service.
Despite Trump’s claims that he could withdraw the United States from the alliance, a law passed by Congress in 2023 stipulates that such a move would require the advice and consent of the Senate or an act of Congress. Then – Sen. Current U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine are co-sponsors of the bill.
In an interview with ABC’s “This Week” last month, Sen. Tillis, the Republican leader of the bipartisan Senate NATO Watch Group, said it was “factually incorrect” that Trump could withdraw from NATO without Congress.
“The president of the United States cannot withdraw from NATO. Having said that, the president can poison the well, he can render it dysfunctional if he wants to,” he said.
However, another 2020 legal opinion from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel stated that the president has exclusive authority over treaties.
Trump often criticizes NATO
Trump’s stance has been confusing to members of NATO, an alliance based on the principle of collective defense. Article 5, which states that an attack against one is an attack against all, has been invoked only once in the alliance’s history, after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. After allies joined the United States in the ensuing war in Afghanistan, more than 1,100 non-US service members were killed.
Despite these allied efforts, Trump has long questioned whether NATO allies would be “there” if the United States “needs it,” baselessly claiming in January that NATO forces were “a little behind” the front lines in Afghanistan. Since the United States and Israel launched war against Iran on February 28, the president has continued to express doubts about the alliance.
“It’s actually hard to believe except that it’s not there. And I didn’t do a big promotion. I just said, ‘Hey,’ you know, I didn’t insist on much. I just thought it should be automatic,” Trump told The Daily Telegraph.
“We naturally end up there, including Ukraine,” he said. “Ukraine is not our problem. This is a test and we are always with them and we will always be with them. But they are not with us.”
Although the United States has provided some military intelligence to Ukraine and allowed Europe to purchase American weapons on behalf of Kyiv, the U.S. government has not authorized new military or financial support to Ukraine since Joe Biden became president.
In his latest swipe at NATO, Trump singled out British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Starmer initially rejected the president’s request to use British military bases to attack Iran, a move Britain considered illegal. However, Starmer did join the defense against Iranian retaliation after attacks on British military assets in the Middle East.
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Trump mocked Britain’s warship fleet, saying: “You don’t even have a navy. You are too old and the aircraft carriers you have no longer work.”
“I’m not going to tell him what to do. He can do whatever he wants. It doesn’t matter. All Starmer wants are expensive windmills that are driving energy prices through the roof,” Trump added of clean energy projects.
Asked about Trump’s latest comments, Starmer stressed that NATO remained “the most effective military alliance the world has ever seen”. He reiterated that Britain would not be “dragged into” a war with Iran.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Kaanita Iyer, Catherine Nicholls, Lauren Chadwick and Aileen Graef contributed to this report.
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