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President Donald Trump will meet with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte Wednesday at the White House, just as transatlantic relations within the alliance have frayed during U.S. operations in Iran.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to withdraw the U.S. from NATO and slammed European nations for blocking base access and providing limited help to the Iran offensive known as Operation Epic Fury.
Despite a good relationship with the head of NATO, who once called him “daddy” of the alliance, Trump has said he views NATO as a “one-way street.”
“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us,” he said to the alliance in a Truth Social post March 31.
TRUMP PRESSES NATO PARTNERS ON SUPPORT AS HEGSETH BLASTS HESITATION
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also meets with Rutte Wednesday, told Fox News recently: “After this conflict is concluded, we are going to have to reexamine that relationship. We’re going to have reexamined the value of NATO in that alliance for our country.”
Spanish Prime Minister closed Spanish airspace to any aircraft — including U.S. bombers departing from the UK — involved in strikes against Iran and denied the U.S. use of its in-country bases, the Rota Naval Station and Morón Air Base for any combat, refueling or staging missions related to the Iran conflict.
EX-NATO AMBASSADOR WARNS US AND ALLIES MUST ‘STOP THE SNIPING’ AND UNITE TO END IRAN CONFLICT
President Emmanuel Macron blocked Israeli aircraft from using French airspace to transport U.S.-made munitions intended for the war in Iran.
Meanwhile, Finnish President Alexander Stubb told Trump in a phone call a “more European NATO” is taking shape.
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European nations have felt the brunt of the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for its natural gas supply and expressed frustration that they were not consulted prior to the start of the Iranian conflict.
“I am not the commentator on an operation that the Americans decided on with the Israelis alone. They can later regret not being supported in an operation they decided on by themselves. This is not our operation,” Macron told reporters April 2.