US president meets NATO chief, expresses disappointment over member states failing to again battle on Iran.
Revealed On 9 Apr 2026
United States President Donald Trump has lashed out at NATO over its reluctance to hitch Washington’s battle on Iran, and appeared to revive threats over Greenland, following a gathering with the alliance’s secretary-general.
Writing on his TruthSocial platform on Wednesday, Trump mentioned in capitalised letters that “NATO wasn’t there once we wanted them, and so they received’t be there if we’d like them once more”.
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The remarks got here after a two hour assembly with NATO’s Mark Rutte on the White Home, a day after the US and Iran agreed to a ceasefire.
Forward of the assembly, White Home spokesperson Karoline Leavitt mentioned that member states had “turned their backs on the American individuals”, who fund their nations’ defence. She mentioned Trump would have a “very frank and candid dialog” with the NATO chief and quoted the US president as saying: “They had been examined, and so they failed.”
The rhetoric has raised seats within the West that Trump may transfer to withdraw the US from the transatlantic alliance, which he has repeatedly known as a “paper tiger”. A number of NATO members refused to open their airspace to US army plane or ship naval forces to assist reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a significant vitality route that Iran has successfully closed.
Trump – following his assembly with Rutte – additionally appeared to revive his risk to grab Greenland from NATO member Denmark – a transfer had roiled the alliance earlier than he launched his battle on Iran
“Bear in mind Greenland, that huge, poorly run, piece of ice!!!”, he wrote.
Rutte, recognized in Europe because the “Trump whisperer” for his ability in sustaining a productive relationship with the US president, informed the CNN broadcaster that Trump was “clearly upset with many NATO allies”.
Rutte mentioned he had “very frank” and “very open” discussions with Trump through the assembly, and that whereas he understood the US president’s frustrations, he had pushed again towards a few of the broader criticism.
“I used to be additionally capable of level to the truth that the big majority of European nations have been useful, with basing, with logistics, with overflights, with ensuring that they reside as much as the commitments,” Rutte mentioned.
“What the US did with Iran, they might do as a result of so many European international locations lived as much as these commitments. Not all of them, and I completely perceive his disappointment about that, however it’s, subsequently, a nuanced image,” he added.
Rutte additionally rejected the notion that NATO members thought-about the battle on Iran “unlawful”, arguing that there was widespread assist in Europe for degrading Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities. He additionally mentioned that extended diplomacy risked a “North Korean second” – the place talks drag on till a rustic acquires nuclear capability and it turns into too late to behave.
The NATO chief declined to reply instantly when requested a number of occasions if Trump had mentioned he would go away the alliance.
NATO, which incorporates European international locations, the US and Canada, was shaped in 1949 to counter the Soviet Union and has been the cornerstone of the West’s safety ever since.
The alliance has solely activated its mutual defence clause on one event, following the September 2001 assaults on the World Commerce Middle within the US.
It was not clear what function Trump had anticipated it to play within the Center East.
The Wall Avenue Journal, in the meantime, reported that Trump was punishing some NATO members he believed had been unhelpful through the battle by transferring US troops out of their international locations.
The plan, reported by the Wall Avenue Journal, would fall wanting Trump’s hinted threats to drag the US out of NATO totally – a transfer for which he would wish the approval of the US Congress.
Rutte didn’t reply instantly when requested about that report.
“The massive majority, together with France, of European nations, has been doing what they dedicated earlier than they’ll do in a case like this,” he mentioned as a substitute.
“So Europe, as a platform of energy projection for the USA, was in full play over the past six weeks.”
