ROME — As President Donald Trump on Tuesday amped up criticism of NATO countries for refusing to do more in the Iran war, European allies were doubling down on their pushback.
Italy in recent days denied landing rights to U.S. war planes seeking to land at Sigonella base in eastern Sicily after determining their flight plans were linked to the war effort, according to a senior Italian official.
That revelation — involving a nation led by a key Trump ally, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — emerged a day after Spain’s defense minister said the country was going further in its direct opposition to the war, denying not only U.S. use of its bases but also overflight rights to aircraft involved in the attacks on Iran.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, previously struggling in polls, has found a new political lease on life as he leads the European resistance to the war.
Trump has grown exasperatedwith European reluctance and has suggested it means Washington should not feel obligated to help defend Europe, although NATO’s collective defense clause applies specifically to attacks on allies in North America and Europe.
On Tuesday, the president lashed out on social media. European nations should “build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait [of Hormuz], and just TAKE IT,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us.”
Trump also hit at France. “The Country of France wouldn’t let planes headed to Israel, loaded up with military supplies, fly over French territory. France has been VERY UNHELPFUL,” he wrote.
France has said it is allowing use of its bases for U.S. operations such as refueling but not for aircraft carrying out attacks. It was unclear whether Trump was referring to a specific incident with France. The Élysée did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday echoed the president’s criticism of European nations, saying that Trump was “clear this morning” on social media “that there are countries around the world who ought to be prepared to step up” to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, a vital chokepoint for global oil supply that has been largely blocked by Iranian counterattacks.
In his first Pentagon news conference in nearly two weeks, Hegseth also described negotiations between U.S. and Iranian officials as “very real,” despite the apparent significant differences between the two sides. “They are ongoing, active, and I think gaining strength, and we appreciate that,” Hegseth said, before noting the likelihood of more U.S. military action if Iran does not relent.
So far, 13 U.S. troops have been killed in the war and the number of wounded continues to climb. As of Tuesday, 348 U.S. personnel had been injured, according to a U.S. Central Command tally. Military officials said that 315 of them, or about 91 percent, have returned to duty. A consortium of human rights groups said Friday that nearly 1,500 Iranian civilians have been killed in U.S. and Israeli strikes.
Like France, other longtime U.S. partners, including Britain and Germany, have allowed use of their bases or deployed military assets to counter Tehran’s retaliation. But despite the administration’s threats to pull support for the U.S.-led NATO alliance, European capitals are not hiding skepticism about a deadly, open-ended war — drawing Trump’s ire.
As the conflict weighs on economic growth, drags down stock markets, and drives up energy prices, European criticism is getting more pronounced. Officials supportive of the White House, like NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte — who famously called Trump “Daddy” during a NATO summit last year — are being drowned out by a chorus of growing concern.
“In the spectrum that ranges from Rutte to Sánchez, the core is definitely shifting towards the latter. From Daddy to Baddie,” said Nathalie Tocci, director of the Rome-based Institute for International Affairs.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz last month had backed the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran. On Friday, however, he told the FAZ newspaper: “I’m just not convinced that what’s happening right now — what Israel and America are doing — will actually lead to success.”
In Italy, the war has created a headache for Meloni, whose relationship with Trump has come under a microscope over an unpopular war. Meloni’s previously impenetrable political armor was pierced after Italian voters on March 22 rejected a referendum on judicial changes that was seen as a bellwether of her popularity. Her administration has sought to put distance between her and Trump.
“This story of her closeness to Trump, used to delegitimize the government, I don’t know if it’s more ridiculous or more specious, bordering on insulting,” Guido Crosetto, Meloni’s defense minister, told La Repubblica on Monday. “Trump is the president of a nation, elected by an overwhelming majority, and he goes his own way without listening to anyone but himself. We go our own way without subservience.”
Italy refused landing rights to U.S. military aircraft that were in flight when permission was requested, said the Italian official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information. The fact that the aircraft were aloft left no time to consult with parliament — something Meloni has pledged to do before allowing bases in Italy to be used as a staging ground. The incident was first reported by the Corriere della Sera newspaper and Italy’s ANSA news agency.
In a statement Tuesday, Meloni’s office did not confirm the incident but said: “Each request is carefully examined on a case-by-case basis, as has always been the case in the past. No critical issues or frictions with international partners have been reported. Relations with the United States, in particular, are solid and based on full and loyal cooperation.”
Vincenzo Camporini, former chief of staff of the air force and defense and now scientific adviser to the Institute for International Affairs, said Washington should not be surprised that allies are hesitating to cooperate given the lack of consultation before the conflict.
“I believe that this has to do with the fact that this operation was launched without any consultation, without any consideration about the need to at least inform the allied countries,” Camporini said. “You cannot do like something like that and then request very, very abjectly the support of the nations.”
On Tuesday, Hegseth disclosed that he had spent time Saturday at U.S. bases in the Middle East, information the Pentagon had withheld.
While Trump previously has said that the campaign against Iran would likely take four to six weeks, Hegseth left open the possibility of it stretching longer. The president, Hegseth said, has said it could go “four to six weeks, six to eight weeks” or “any particular number.”
Hegseth also said U.S. intelligence shows that the strikes against Iran are having effects on military morale there, “leading to widespread desertions, key personnel shortages, and causing frustrations amongst senior leaders.” He did not share how the U.S. has gathered that information.
For days, Trump has directed complaints at NATO, as European capitals rebuff calls to get further involved in another U.S. war of choice that is roiling the Middle East.
The Trump administration, which has tasked European partners at NATO with arming Kyiv and taking charge of Europe’s defenses, is now pressing them to deploy warships to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Several European leaders, including in France, Britain and the Netherlands, say their navies would help reopen the waterway and escort tankers if the fighting abates, but not while missiles are flying. The Europeans have settled on a joint refrain: “This is not our war.”
Trump has lambasted allies as “cowards” while declaring that he does not need help from NATO, which has been the cornerstone of European security and has promoted U.S. military interests for nearly 80 years. Over the weekend, the president said the U.S. may move away from NATO’s core tenet: promising to defend allies should they come under attack.
The war unleashed by NATO’s leading member has also come to the doorstep of Turkey, a NATO ally, which borders Iran.
Turkey’s defense ministry said Monday that a ballistic missile launched from Iran entered Turkish airspace before NATO air defenses shot it down in the eastern Mediterranean — the fourth such interception since last month.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whom European officials see as a more traditional supporter of the transatlantic alliance, also questioned commitment to NATO as he pointed to Spain’s “bragging” about denying use of its airspace. Rubio said the transatlantic military alliance gives the U.S. “leverage” because it allows for stationing troops and aircraft across Europe.
“But if NATO is just about us defending Europe if they’re attacked, but them denying us basing rights when we need them, that’s not a very good arrangement,” Rubio said Monday on Al Jazeera. “That’s a hard one to stay engaged in and say this is good for the United States. So all of that is going to have to be reexamined.”
The tensions are further straining ties with Washington, which European leaders have tried to maintain despite clasheson trade and Trump’s bid for Greenland.
“The policy of appeasement doesn’t work; it doesn’t buy the Europeans much breathing space beyond a few weeks,” said Rosa Balfour, director of Carnegie Europe, the U.S.-based think tank. “They have learned that humiliating themselves doesn’t pay off.”
Yet even as European politicians declare that they are not involved in the U.S.-Israeli war, their militaries have tacitly played a role by allowing the use of bases to facilitate the bombing of Iran. Spain has been the notable exception.
Officials say American fighter jets and drones have been fueled at and routed through bases around Europe. The Ramstein base in Germany, a massive U.S. hub, has been key to the U.S. war effort against Iran.
NATO’s top military commander, U.S. Air Force General Alexus G. Grynkewich, said in Senate testimony this month that despite political frictions, most European allies “especially at the military level … have been extremely supportive.”
Francis reported from Brussels. Dan Lamothe and Tara Copp in Washington and Beatriz Ríos in Brussels contributed to this report.
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