US President Donald Trump has criticized NATO allies and several European countries over what he described as their lack of support during the recent conflict with Iran, saying the United States was “let down” by partners who did not back Washington’s actions.
During a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the White House, Trump complained that countries such as the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain failed to provide the level of assistance he expected. He stated:
“We were let down. We didn’t need help on this at all… but it would have been nice if they would have said, ‘We’d like to help.’”
Trump also argued that the U.S. had achieved its objectives without foreign assistance and suggested that NATO members made a mistake by refusing to become directly involved in the Iran operation. Earlier in the conflict, he had written that the U.S. no longer needed NATO’s help, declaring: “We do not need the help of anyone.”
Rutte pushed back against the criticism, noting that European allies provided significant logistical support, including access to military bases used by U.S. aircraft during the conflict.
The remarks come ahead of a NATO summit, where burden-sharing, defense spending, and the alliance’s future role are expected to be major topics of discussion
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