US President Donald Trump said he is seriously considering pulling the United States out of NATO, calling the alliance a “paper tiger” after allies refused to back Washington’s war effort against Iran.
“It’s beyond reconsideration,” Trump told The Telegraph. “I was never swayed by NATO. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and [Russian leader Vladimir] Putin knows that too, by the way.”
The remarks mark one of Trump’s strongest attacks yet on the transatlantic alliance and signal a deepening rift between Washington and its European partners.
The dispute centers on the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic shipping route that carries roughly 20% of the world’s oil. Iran has effectively blocked the strait for weeks, sending global oil and gas prices sharply higher and raising fears of a broader economic downturn.
Trump urged NATO allies to join a US-led effort to reopen the waterway, but most declined. Some, however, have discussed forming a new coalition to reopen the strait without US leadership.
“Beyond not being there, it was actually hard to believe,” he said. “And I didn’t do a big sale. I just said, ‘Hey,’ you know, I didn’t insist too much. I just think it should be automatic.”
He framed the refusal as a failure of burden-sharing within the alliance.
“We’ve been there automatically, including Ukraine. Ukraine wasn’t our problem. It was a test, and we were there for them, and we would always have been there for them. They weren’t there for us.”
At the same time, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that Washington may “re-examine” its relationship with NATO after the conflict, accusing allies of benefiting from US protection while limiting American access to military bases.
“If NATO is just about us defending Europe if they’re attacked, but them denying us basing rights when we need them, that’s not a very good arrangement,” Rubio said. “That’s a hard one to stay engaged in.”
The standoff has also revived debate around NATO’s core Article 5 mutual defense clause, which applies only if a member state is attacked – not in offensive operations such as the current conflict with Iran.
Despite Trump’s threats, any move to withdraw the US from NATO would face significant legal hurdles. A 2023 law requires approval from Congress before a president can exit the alliance.
Behind the scenes, according to The Telegraph, his administration is also weighing broader changes to NATO, including proposals to tie decision-making power to defense spending – a move that could sideline members who fail to meet funding targets.
The White House is also reportedly considering reducing the US military presence in Europe, including a possible troop drawdown from Germany – a step long discussed by Trump.
On Wednesday night, Trump is set to address the nation on the war with Iran, the White House said. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that Trump will speak at 9 p.m. ET (0100 GMT Thursday) to deliver “an important update on Iran.”
Earlier in the Oval Office, Trump said he expects the war to conclude “within maybe two weeks,” while leaving the door open for a potential deal.
“We have had regime change. Now, regime change was not one of the things I had as a goal. I had one goal: They will have no nuclear weapon, and that goal has been attained,” Trump said.
“They will not have nuclear weapons. But we’re finishing the job… within maybe two weeks… we want to knock out every single [site] they have,” he added.
The US killed Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in an airstrike; his son Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded him, vowed a wider war with the US in his first public address.