Trump again chides NATO for failing to back US operations in Iran

President Donald Trump on Thursday again chided NATO for its reluctance to support U.S. operations in Iran , just a day after a tense private meeting with Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House.

Rutte travelled to Washington to mollify the president, who remains incensed at the alliance for refusing to intervene in the de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery that typically carries a quarter of the world’s oil and gas. The strait’s near-closure has prevented roughly ten million barrels of crude oil daily from reaching global markets.

But Trump, following the face-to-face talks, was far from conciliatory. He wrote on social media Wednesday that “NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN. REMEMBER GREENLAND, THAT BIG, POORLY RUN, PIECE OF ICE!!!”

In a subsequent post Thursday, he dismissed the response from the bloc as “very disappointing.”

Rutte acknowledged the discord with Trump, yet characterized Europe’s initial reticence to get involved in the war in Iran as a consequence of the president’s decision not to consult allies before the launch of Operation Epic Fury. He said the other member nations were taken by surprise by the joint U.S.-Israeli assault against Iran, and slower to respond as a result.

“To maintain the element of surprise for the initial strikes, President Trump opted not to inform allies ahead of time. And I understand that,” Rutte said during his remarks at the Reagan Institute’s Center for Peace Through Strength in Washington on Thursday.

“But what I see when I look across Europe today, is allies providing a massive amount of support —basing, logistics, and other measures — to ensure the powerful U.S. military succeeds in denying Iran a nuclear weapon and degrading its capacity to export chaos," Rutte said.

The NATO secretary general also underscored international efforts, spearheaded by Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, to find a workable plan for a full reopening of the strait as hostilities wind down.

“The United Kingdom is leading a coalition of countries that are aligning the military, the political, and the economic tools that will be required to ensure free passage through the Strait of Hormuz. This is evidence of a mindset shift,” he said.

The Trump administration has asserted it will reassess its relationship with NATO once the war with Iran concludes, a review that officials say could include relocating American forces away from allies deemed unhelpful. The president has also weighed the possibility of withdrawing the United States from the alliance altogether.

At a White House press conference earlier this week, Trump traced the start of the icy relations back to Greenland.

The president, around the start of the year, began talking with increasing seriousness about annexing Greenland, the huge, semiautonomous territory under Danish sovereignty. At the apex of the crisis, Trump refused to rule out using military force. He ultimately backed down but the tremors from the episode are still being felt on both sides of the Atlantic.

“It all began with, if you want to know the truth, Greenland,” Trump told reporters on Monday, adding, “We want Greenland. They don’t want to give it to us. And I said, ‘bye, bye.’”

Tanya Noury is a reporter for Military Times and Defense News, with coverage focusing on the White House and Pentagon.

周四，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普再次指责北约不愿支持美国在伊朗的军事行动。就在前一天，他与北约秘书长马克·吕特在白宫举行了一次气氛紧张的私人会晤。

吕特前往华盛顿安抚美国总统，后者仍然对北约拒绝干预霍尔木兹海峡的实际封锁感到愤怒。霍尔木兹海峡是重要的海上通道，通常承载着全球四分之一的石油和天然气运输。海峡的近乎封闭已导致每天约一千万桶原油无法进入全球市场。

但特朗普在会谈后，态度远非缓和。他周三在社交媒体上写道：“北约在我们需要他们的时候不在，如果我们再次需要他们，他们也不会在。记住格陵兰岛，那块管理混乱的冰原！！！”

在周四的后续帖子中，他驳斥了欧盟的回应，称其“非常令人失望”。

吕特承认与特朗普存在分歧，但他将欧洲最初不愿介入伊朗战争的原因归咎于特朗普总统在发动“史诗狂怒行动”前未与盟友协商。他表示，其他成员国对美以联合打击伊朗的行动感到措手不及，因此反应迟缓。

“为了保持最初打击行动的出其不意，特朗普总统选择不事先通知盟友。我理解这一点，”吕特周四在华盛顿里根研究所“以实力促和平”中心发表讲话时说道。

“但我今天环顾欧洲时看到的是，盟友们正在提供大量的支持——包括军事基地、后勤保障和其他措施——以确保强大的美国军队能够成功阻止伊朗获得核武器，并削弱其输出混乱的能力，”吕特说。

北约秘书长还强调了由英国首相基尔·斯塔默牵头的国际社会为寻找一个可行的计划，以便在敌对行动逐渐减少之际全面重新开放海峡所做的努力。

他说：“英国正领导一个国家联盟，协调军事、政治和经济手段，以确保霍尔木兹海峡的自由通行。这表明一种思维方式正在发生转变。”

特朗普政府声称，一旦伊朗战争结束，将重新评估与北约的关系。官员们表示，此次评估可能包括将美军从被认为无益的盟友那里撤离。总统还曾考虑过让美国彻底退出北约的可能性。

本周早些时候，特朗普在白宫新闻发布会上将美中关系冰冷的开端追溯到格陵兰岛。

今年年初，总统开始越来越认真地谈论吞并格陵兰岛——这片幅员辽阔、半自治的领土目前由丹麦管辖。危机最严重时，特朗普拒绝排除动用武力的可能性。他最终做出了让步，但这一事件的影响至今仍在大西洋两岸持续发酵。

“说实话，这一切都始于格陵兰岛，”特朗普周一告诉记者，“我们想要格陵兰岛。他们不想给我们。然后我说，‘再见。’”

Tanya Noury 是《军事时报》和《防务新闻》的记者，她的报道主要集中在白宫和五角大楼。