President Donald Trump has issued his strongest threat yet to withdraw the United States from NATO, branding the alliance a “paper tiger” in an interview with The Telegraph published on Wednesday. The remarks come amid escalating frustration with European allies who have refused to support the US-Israeli war against Iran, particularly declining to assist in securing the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime chokepoint for global oil shipments.
Speaking to the British newspaper, Trump said that US membership in the military alliance was now “beyond reconsideration” and that he was never swayed by NATO. “I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way,” he said. The president specifically criticized allies for their reluctance to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively closed by Iranian forces for weeks, disrupting global energy flows and driving up oil and gas prices. “Beyond not being there, it was actually hard to believe,” Trump said of the lack of support, adding that he believed allied assistance “should be automatic”.
In a pointed attack on Britain, Trump criticized Prime Minister Keir Starmer for declining to participate in the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran. “You don’t even have a navy. You’re too old and had aircraft carriers that didn’t work,” Trump said, referring to the state of Britain’s naval fleet. When asked whether Starmer should increase defense spending, the president declined to offer advice, instead criticizing the prime minister’s focus on wind energy, which he claimed was driving up energy costs.
The British response was swift and firm. In a Downing Street press conference, Starmer declared that the Iran conflict is “not our war” and that Britain will not be drawn into it. The prime minister emphasized his government’s focus on de-escalation and maritime security in the Gulf, while signaling that the UK would move closer to the European Union in the wake of fraying transatlantic ties. “Whatever the pressure on me and others, whatever the noise, I’m going to act in the British national interest in all decisions that I make,” Starmer said.
The White House has voiced growing frustration with NATO allies over the course of the conflict. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in an interview with Fox News, suggested that Washington may need to “re-examine” its relationship with NATO after the war ends. Rubio criticized allies for denying US requests to use military bases during the conflict, asking pointedly, “When we need them to allow us to use their military bases, their answer is ‘No.’ Then why are we in NATO?”. He warned that the alliance risks becoming a “one-way street” if Washington’s operational flexibility is constrained.
The tensions with NATO allies have been building since the early days of the conflict. In mid-March, both the UK and Germany explicitly rejected calls for NATO to intervene in securing the Strait of Hormuz. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s spokesman said the West Asia war “has nothing to do with NATO and is not NATO’s war,” while Britain signaled it would not dispatch warships to the region despite exploring other options like mine-hunting drones. Italy and Spain have also refused US requests to use their military bases and airspace for operations related to the Iran war.
European leaders have expressed deep concern over Trump’s threats, with former UK National Security Adviser Peter Ricketts telling Times Radio that the Iran war has effectively “put to bed, once and for all, the idea of a special relationship” between Britain and the United States. Ricketts noted that while operational cooperation between defense and intelligence staff continues “very professionally” below the surface, the public friction between leaders represents a fundamental shift in the relationship.
The debate has also revived questions about the nature of NATO’s collective defense obligations. Officials note that Article 5, the alliance’s core mutual defense clause has only been invoked once, after the September 11 attacks, and applies only when a member state is attacked, not to offensive operations such as the current US-Israeli campaign against Iran. This legal distinction has provided cover for European allies seeking to avoid entanglement in a conflict they did not initiate and do not support.
The diplomatic rupture comes at a moment of acute global crisis, with the Strait of Hormuz closure causing the largest oil market disruption in history and threatening a global recession. The International Energy Agency has warned that supply losses will double in April, with severe impacts on Europe’s economy expected as shortages of jet fuel and diesel begin to bite. As the conflict enters its second month, the rift between Washington and its traditional allies appears wider than at any point since the alliance’s founding.