Rebuffed by allies, Trump now says U.S. doesn’t need help defending the Strait of Hormuz

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday backed away from urging U.S. allies to join in protecting the Strait of Hormuz from Iranian threats — an about-face that came just a day after he called on nations to “step up” so oil tankers can safely navigate the crucial shipping lane.

First on social media and then in an Oval Office meeting, Trump said the outside military support he was working to muster was no longer necessary in the war the United States and Israel launched against Iran on February 28.

“We actually don’t need any help,” Trump said during an exchange with reporters in the Oval Office while hosting Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment.

Trump received a cold response from U.S. allies he had tried to mobilize in a joint effort to police the strait, which has been effectively closed in the face of Iranian attacks that have imperiled oil supplies.

On Monday, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said: “This is not our war; we didn’t trigger it. » Before Trump’s Oval Office meeting on Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said his country would “never participate in operations aimed at opening or liberating the Strait of Hormuz in the current context” but was ready to play a role once the fighting stopped.

Asked about Macron’s statement, Trump said he “will be removed from office very soon.” (Macron’s term ends in May 2027.)

Trump has been measured in his discussions of tensions within the NATO alliance, although one of his confidants, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., wrote on X that he had spoken to Trump about it and had “never heard him so angry in my life.”

“The repercussions of a lack of aid to keep the Strait of Hormuz functioning will be broad and far-reaching for Europe and America,” Graham wrote, saying he shared Trump’s anger.

Trump has spoken repeatedly in recent days about building a coalition that would help repel Iranian attacks on tankers and other vessels navigating the strait, a narrow passage that has become a chokepoint for global oil.

The war triggered a spike in gas prices, creating political problems for Trump at home ahead of the midterm congressional elections in November.

Trump said Monday at the White House that “many countries have told me they are on their way” to help. He said Secretary of State Marco Rubio would make an announcement. No announcements or listings have been released yet.

As for holdouts, he said, “we strongly encourage other nations to get involved with us and to get involved quickly and with great enthusiasm.”

The war in Iran is a test of Trump’s “America First” approach to global conflicts. He has long been skeptical of military alliances, warning that the United States was building a protective umbrella around other nations without any guarantee that the beneficiaries of American power would come to its aid in times of need.

This position has alienated NATO countries who sent troops into the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, only to watch them die in combat.

The only time NATO invoked the Article 5 mutual security guarantee was to defend the United States after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

“Trump’s intimidation and tendency to negotiate through a megaphone is not well received by European allies,” Peter Westmacott, former British ambassador to the United States, told NBC News.

In 1990-91, President George HW Bush brought together a broad coalition of nations to confront Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi dictator, before launching Operation Desert Storm.

Thanks to Bush’s careful diplomatic work, that conflict “became, literally, Saddam Hussein versus the world,” said Aaron David Miller, a former State Department official and now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

No such consultations took place before the US-Israeli attack on Iran, several diplomats said.

Some coalition-building efforts are underway, more than two weeks after the strikes began. In a State Department-wide telegram Monday, all U.S. diplomats were asked to tell foreign governments, “at the highest appropriate level,” that they “must act quickly to diminish Iran’s capabilities” because of a “high risk of attack” against their own countries.

A European diplomat told NBC News: “He’s asking us to help him in a war he started. There’s not a lot of enthusiasm for that. And even if European navies were sent to the Gulf, that wouldn’t guarantee the strait’s reopening. Iran can keep it closed as long as it wants because all it takes is a drone or a mine.”

In the run-up to “Operation Epic Fury,” Trump triggered a series of confrontations with NATO countries that have deteriorated relations on both sides of the Atlantic. Trump has rattled U.S. allies by focusing on acquiring Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark.

For a time he did not rule out the use of force, if necessary, but then backed away in favor of a negotiated solution to Greenland’s status.

“It is not possible to forget what happened with Greenland. Trust has been damaged and it is not easy to repair,” said a second European diplomat.

Trump also disconcerted his European allies by not using more coercive sanctions to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin into making peace with Ukraine. More than two months ago, Graham said Trump had “given the green light” to a bipartisan bill that would have imposed tougher sanctions on Russia and that a Senate vote could happen within a week. The measure is still hanging around Congress.

The Trump administration appears to have moved in the opposite direction, temporarily lifting sanctions last week on Russian oil sitting at sea, hoping to increase supply and curb prices.

Trump told NBC News that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had been “much harder to make a deal” than Putin to end the war.

The comments angered current and former officials at home and abroad. A former senior US military officer said they were in disbelief that Trump would place blame on Zelensky, whose democratic country was invaded by Russian forces. A third European diplomat said he was upset that Trump had seen fit to criticize Zelensky, as opposed to Putin. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to speak freely.

Marko Mihkelson, who chairs the Estonian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, told NBC News: “If President Trump wants to achieve peace – as he promised and worked for – then he must change his tactics against Russia. You cannot be a neutral mediator in this war. Russia will not stop unless it is stopped.”

Westmacott added: “When it comes to Ukraine, Trump has been a huge disappointment to America’s European allies. They are dismayed by his tendency to believe Putin’s lies, see Ukraine as a purely European issue, and portray Zelensky as an obstacle to peace when the Europeans and the facts show otherwise.”

It is not yet known whether the position outlined by Trump on Tuesday will be maintained. By his own admission, he had not lobbied the entire court for additional assistance.

Differences aside, America and its European allies must recognize what is at stake and accept that their interests are aligned, Mihkelson said.

“Europeans must understand that to succeed in today’s very turbulent world and to safeguard our security and stability, we must remain united,” he said.