President Trump has lashed out again at Europe, escalating verbal attacks that verge on diplomatic bullying as he threatened to walk away from the military cooperation that has secured the European continent for 80 years.
Angered by what he sees as a lack of support for his war on Iran, Mr. Trump said that he was now strongly considering withdrawing the United States from NATO, telling The Telegraph newspaper in Britain that the defense alliance is a “paper tiger” and that he is determined to reconsider America’s role in it.
“I would say [it’s] beyond reconsideration,” he said in an interview published on Wednesday.
If the president followed through on the threat, it would dramatically reshape the security apparatus for the European continent, which has relied for decades on American military power. Without American assistance, Europe and NATO could struggle to defend Ukraine, and possibly its own borders, from Russian aggression.
The president’s comments plunged European leaders into another cycle of anxious deliberations, similar to when he mused last year about invading Greenland before ultimately backing off.
In the past, the president has climbed down from similar threats to sever the American relationship with NATO. But the ferocity of his current language, delivered in the middle of a war with Iran, presents an urgent question to American allies: What if this time, he’s serious?
With the United States and Israel having launched an intense conflict with Iran, and Russia in its fourth year of war in Ukraine, Mr. Trump’s potential retreat from European security has broad implications for how the continent’s leaders assemble a coalition to defend their democracies.
The president’s remarks were published a day after he dared European nations on Tuesday to “build up some delayed courage” and start “learning how to fight for yourself.” He warned that the United States would no longer help European nations protect vessels traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has in effect blockaded oil shipments, because they did not join the military strikes on Iran.
“Go get your own oil!,” he wrote on his social media platform.
Mr. Trump’s message was aimed at “all of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz.” He singled out France, which he called “VERY UNHELPFUL,” and Britain, “which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran.”
“The U.S.A. will REMEMBER!!!” he said.
In the interview with the Telegraph, Mr. Trump again attacked Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, and mocked the capabilities of the British military.
“You don’t even have a navy. You’re too old and had aircraft carriers that didn’t work,” he said.
Mr. Starmer, like other leaders in Europe, is trapped between the desire to offer a fiery response to Mr. Trump’s broadsides and the fear of further angering the American president.
At a previously scheduled news conference on Wednesday morning, soon after the Telegraph interview was published, Mr. Starmer repeatedly declined to respond to Mr. Trump’s comments. The prime minister insisted that he would not change his mind about mostly staying out of the conflict with Iran.
“Whatever the pressure on me and others, whatever the noise, I’m going to act in the British national interest in the decisions that I make,” Mr. Starmer said. “That’s why I’ve been absolutely clear that this is not our war and we’re not going to get dragged into it.”
The prime minister said that Britain’s foreign secretary would host counterparts from nearly three dozen countries later this week to discuss diplomatic efforts to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. He said that the countries’ military officials countries would also meet in London.
Mr. Starmer did not respond directly to the president’s threat to withdraw from NATO, saying only that “NATO is the single most effective military alliance the world has ever seen, and it has kept us safe for many decades, and we are fully committed to NATO.”
But he hinted at a possible future when his country may no longer be able to rely on the United States.
“It is increasingly clear that as the world continues down this volatile path, our long-term national interest requires closer partnership with our allies in Europe and with the European Union,” he said. He announced plans for a new summit between the European Union and Britain to strengthen security and economic ties that were ruptured by the Brexit vote ten years ago.
Michael D. Shear is the chief U.K. correspondent for The New York Times, covering British politics and culture and diplomacy around the world.
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