3 min readUpdated: Apr 9, 2026 12:30 PM IST
US President Donald Trump Wednesday criticised the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) saying they not there when the US needed them.
Taking to Truth Social after a meeting with the alliance Secretary-General Mark Rutte, further added that ” (they) won’t be there if we need them again”.
He also vented his frustration with NATO while in the meeting with Rutte as relations in the military alliance went down south over the Iran war. “He is clearly disappointed with many NATO allies, and I can see his point,” Rutte told CNN after spending over two hours at the White House. “This was a very frank, very open discussion, but also a discussion between two good friends.”
Ahead of the meeting, Trump suggested that the US may consider leaving NATO after its member countries ignored his call for help when Iran had shut the Strait of Hormuz and sent gas prices rising.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt quoted Trump as saying: “They (NATO) were tested, and they failed,” during the war against Iran.
The White House did not reveal the details of the talks with NATO Secretary-General.
Why is Trump frustrated with NATO?
Several NATO countries opposed the US military campaign against Iran by denying their airspace to US military planes or declining to send naval forces to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz for energy tankers.
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Trump has repeatedly called NATO a “paper tiger” and threatened to withdraw from the 32-member transatlantic alliance in recent weeks, arguing that Washington’s European allies have relied on U.S. security guarantees while providing inadequate support for the U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign in Iran. Although Trump said on Tuesday the attacks on Iran would be paused under a two-week ceasefire, the fallout from the conflict has continued to strain ties between Washington and its allies, suggesting the diplomatic consequences may linger longer.
Leavitt on Wednesday said that NATO countries had “turned their backs on the American people,” who fund their nations’ defense, and that Trump would have a “very frank and candid conversation” with the NATO chief.
Without naming the countries, Rutte however opined that only “some” NATO countries failed to live up to their commitments in the Iran operation but a “large majority of Europeans” had been helpful.
— with inputs from Reuters, AP and CNN
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