President Trump said on Tuesday that he was not afraid to put U.S. troops on the ground in Iran, and that the United States did not “need or desire” any help from U.S. allies to open the Strait of Hormuz.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump said he was unbothered by the reluctance of NATO countries to support the war that he launched with Israel.
“This was a great test” of NATO countries, he said, speaking alongside Micheál Martin, the prime minister of Ireland. Mr. Trump added that the alliance “is making a very foolish mistake” by declining to join efforts to push oil shipments through the narrow waterway by force.
“We helped them, but they didn’t help us,” he continued, complaining that the United States had sent hundreds of billions of dollars in aid to help Ukraine fight off a Russian invasion, most of it under former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., but that Europe failed to offer even mine sweepers to help in Iran.
His comments came hours after Mr. Trump voiced similar complaints on social media, claiming the U.S. relationship with NATO was “a one-way street” while also declaring that the United States didn’t need help.
“Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer ‘need,’ or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance — WE NEVER DID!” he said on Truth Social.
Mr. Trump has faced mounting criticism over the U.S.-Israeli assault on Iran, now in its third week, from allies and even members of his own administration. On Tuesday morning, Joe Kent, the president’s national counterterrorism director, resigned in protest, writing in a letter to the president that “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”
Mr. Trump tried to downplay the idea that Israel had influenced his decision to attack Iran, calling Israel “a partner” and asserting, “I was against Iran long before I even thought about Israel being against Iran.”
Of Mr. Kent, he added: “I always thought he was weak on security.”
Mr. Trump has boasted repeatedly about the decimation that the U.S. attacks have wrought upon Tehran, claiming that they had obliterated the threat posed by Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, and destroyed every aspect of Iran’s military, including its navy and all of its radar.
But the president struggled on Tuesday to articulate a vision for a postwar Iran, or define when the U.S. strikes — which he insisted were “just a military operation” and not a war — might cease.
“Look, if we left right now it would take 10 years for them to rebuild, but we’re not ready to leave yet, but we’ll be leaving in the near future,” he said, when asked about his plans for Iran after the fighting concluded.
Mr. Trump claimed on Tuesday that the United States had accomplished the bulk of its military mission in the first two or three days of the bombing campaign. But he also threatened that the United States could wipe out Iran’s electricity and its oil infrastructure at a moment’s notice, either of which would be a significant tactical escalation — and likely hurt Iran’s civilian population further.
Hanging over considerations about next steps is also the question of whether further moves would involve putting U.S. boots on the ground.
Mr. Trump is currently considering two actions that would almost certainly require ground action by American or Israeli forces: Taking over Kharg Island, where Iran loads most of the oil it produces onto tankers, and the underground site at Isfahan where it stores most of its 970 pounds of near-bomb-grade nuclear fuel.
Mr. Trump told reporters that he was unconcerned that such moves could commit U.S. forces to a Vietnam-like boondoggle in Iran.
“I’m really not afraid of that,” he told reporters. “I’m really not afraid of anything.”
Karoun Demirjian is a breaking news reporter for The Times.
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