Trump says he requested European support to test allies
President Donald Trump renewed his criticism of NATO during a meeting with Turkey’s president, saying he was “very” disappointed with Europe’s response to the U.S. war with Iran and that his requests for European support were intended to test the alliance’s reliability.
Trump made the remarks to reporters, according to the BBC. He said that he had “long said that we helped them, but I’m not sure that they’d be there for us.”
The comments came as Trump prepares to attend a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, on July 7-8. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this week that Trump’s disappointment with allies over the Iran war “will have to be addressed” at the summit.
Trump has repeatedly criticized European allies for not providing military support during the Iran conflict, which began in early March. He has also complained that NATO allies do not meet defense spending targets.
The U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire in April, which included reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping lane for global oil. Trump has said allies rebuffed his calls to help secure the strait during the war.
The dispute over burden-sharing and the Iran war has strained U.S.-European relations within NATO, with Trump threatening to reduce U.S. troop levels in Germany and floating the possibility of a U.S. exit from the alliance.