Trump lashes out after he fails to convince European allies to help in war with Iran

By Kevin Liptak, CNN

(CNN) — Donald Trump’s brief and aggressive attempt to corral an international coalition to police the Strait of Hormuz concluded in disappointment on Tuesday, leading the president to lash out at European nations that rejected his demands to help with his war against Iran.

“We don’t need too much help,” a frustrated Trump said in the Oval Office, where he was hosting Ireland’s taoiseach for St. Patrick’s Day. “We don’t need any help actually.”

It was a striking turnabout for the president, who had spent the last several days ardently insisting other countries send their warships to the strait to escort oil tankers. Iran has effectively shut the waterway, a key shipping lane for about 20% of the world’s oil, sending global energy prices soaring.

Trump had framed his demands as a test of loyalty, suggesting dispatching naval vessels would amount to a “very small endeavor” for countries that rely on the United States for their security. He said Tuesday that some countries were on board, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, though he did not specify in what capacity.

Most foreign leaders, however, had resisted, saying they wouldn’t become mired in a war they did not begin. And by Tuesday, Trump — who had claimed a day earlier he’d heard from “numerous” countries whose ships were “on the way” — was declaring most nations under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization had failed to meet the moment.

“I think NATO is making a very foolish mistake. And I’ve long said that I wonder whether or not NATO would ever be there for us,” he told reporters. “So this was a great test, because we don’t need them, but they should have been there.”

In the end, Trump’s effort at coalition-building lasted only a few days. He did not seek buy-in from countries besides Israel before launching the war in late February. Many leaders in Europe and the Persian Gulf said they were caught by surprise when the first salvos began.

Now, those countries face a US leader scorned and vowing to remember their inaction, which he described as “shocking.”

It’s unclear whether Trump will retaliate. When a reporter asked Tuesday whether he would “rethink” his commitment to NATO, Trump responded that he had “nothing currently in mind” but that he was “not exactly thrilled.”

In his remarks, however, Trump may have provided some clues on how he could punish NATO going forward. He repeatedly invoked US support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, which he said had benefited Europe over American interests.

“We help them, and they didn’t help us, and I think that’s a very bad thing for NATO,” Trump said.

Previously, the US president has openly mused about withdrawing support for NATO, though in recent months had sounded more positive about the alliance after member nations agreed to increase defense spending.

NATO is a defensive alliance whose charter calls for the collective defense of any member that is attacked. The only time that clause has been invoked is following the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, when members came to the United States’ aid.

But it was the US and Israel that attacked Iran, leading other members to question why NATO would become involved in the war. The Trump administration has argued it was defending against an Iranian preemptive strike against US assets in the region, though CNN has reported the intelligence did not support that claim.

“Let me be clear, that won’t be and it’s never been envisioned as a NATO mission,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said during a news conference this week.

Germany’s leaders have been somewhat more blunt.

“This is not our war; we did not start it,” Boris Pistorius, Germany’s defense minister, said on Monday.

For Trump, however, the question of allies’ participation has been more about their perceived commitment to their own security. He has argued that because European and Asian nations rely more than the US does on oil and gas that passes through the Strait of Hormuz, they should take responsibility for patrolling it.

He had choice words Tuesday for European leaders who rejected that premise.

“Keir is no Churchill,” he said dismissively of the British leader, pointing toward a bronze bust of the World War II prime minister in the Oval Office.

“He’ll be out of office very soon,” Trump said of French President Emmanuel Macron, who had earlier declined to join a task force to help secure the strait (Macron’s term will expire in May 2027, meaning Trump will have to deal with him for another 14 months).

For his part, Taoiseach Micheál Martin mostly listened over the course of the 45-minute meeting. Ireland is not a member of NATO and doesn’t have the military capacity to help in the strait even if it wanted to.

The war in Iran is extremely unpopular in Ireland, and Israeli actions have long drawn scrutiny on an island with deep-seeded support for the Palestinians.

At one point, Trump was asked about comments made by the Irish president this week that the war in Iran was a violation of international law.

“He’s lucky I exist,” Trump said of Ireland’s president, Catherine Connolly.

When Martin did choose to speak, he emphasized his country’s desire to resolve the Iran conflict peacefully.

“We had our own conflict, which went on for 30 years, and we learned a lot from that in terms of how to try and bring about peace,” he said, a reference to the decades of sectarian violence known as the Troubles.

Left unspoken was the leading American role, in the form of then-President Bill Clinton and his envoy George Mitchell, in bringing about that peace.

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