Since returning to the White House, President Donald Trump has criticized and threatened America’s NATO allies. Now, with Iran’s war affecting gas prices, he is asking those same countries for help, but they are refusing to oblige.
Several U.S. allies on Monday pushed aside Trump’s call to send warships to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, which the American president called “disloyal” to America.
Numerous countries, including Germany, Spain, and Italy, said they had no plans to send ships to help the U.S. reopen the waterway, which Iran has effectively shut down with drones and naval mines.
“This is not our war, we have not started it,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters Monday.
This has sent global oil prices surging and threatened an international economic shock, which economists had warned about before the war began.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna called on Trump to provide more information. Europe needed to understand Trump’s “strategic goals. What will be the plan?” he asked.
For Italy, the Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told reporters that “diplomacy needs to prevail.”
Trump has criticized British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for not taking part in the initial attack on Iran. Speaking at a news conference on Monday, he was “working with all of our allies, including our European partners,” to “restore the freedom of navigation” as quickly as possible.
“Ultimately, we have to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to ensure stability on the market,” he said. “That is not a simple task.”
Starmer made it abundantly clear that he would not be drawn into the broader conflict. He emphasized that any Hormuz mission should be a comprehensive effort involving the United States and Gulf states, rather than being limited to NATO.
The White House FWRD AXIS News to comments made by press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who told reporters that these countries should help out because they “are benefiting greatly from the United States military taking out the threat of Iran.”
