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Donald Trump rattled NATO allies on Wednesday morning, as he strongly suggested that the U.S. was weighing whether to pull out of the transatlantic military alliance, POLITICO reports.
"I would say [it’s] beyond reconsideration,” Trump told the Telegraph newspaper, when asked if he would think twice about the U.S.’s membership of the alliance after the Middle East conflict is over, the report says.
NATO allies have infuriated Trump by uniformly resisting joining the U.S. and Israeli assault on Iran, and rebuffed calls from the president for them to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical energy waterway that Tehran has effectively blocked in retaliation for the bombardment, according to the report.
“I was never swayed by NATO. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way,” Trump added, as per the report.
His remarks were published hours after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington may need to reconsider its relationship with NATO once the war against Iran is over, sharply escalating pressure on European allies that America accuses of withholding support, the POLITICO report says.
Trump also slammed British Prime Minister Keir Starmer again for Britain's refusal to back America in its war with Iran, and belittled the U.K.'s military, according to the report.
“You don’t even have a navy. You’re too old and had aircraft carriers that didn’t work,” he scoffed about Britain’s fleet of warships, the report adds.