President Donald Trump moaned about how some of America’s closest allies are not joining his war on Iran—and warned: “We will remember.”
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, the 79-year-old blasted a number of NATO countries that have confirmed they will not get involved in efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz—the narrow shipping passage through which a fifth of the world’s oil passes that Iran has closed off amid U.S. and Israeli strikes.
“We’re always there for NATO. We’re helping them with Ukraine. It’s got an ocean in between us, doesn’t affect us, but we helped them,” Trump said.
“And be interesting to see what country wouldn’t help us with a very small endeavor, which is just keeping the Strait open. It’s small because Iran has very little firepower left.”
Trump added, “Whether we get support or not, I can say this, and I said it to them: We will remember.”
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman, and Iranian attacks on targets across the region, has caused an oil price shock that has seen surge in gas prices in the U.S. and crude oil prices climbing past $100 a barrel.
Multiple countries, including Australia, Japan, France, and the U.K., have announced they will not be sending any warships or other reinforcements to help with Trump’s attempts to reopen the vital shipping route.
Trump is getting so desperate to get other countries to join his deeply unpopular Middle East conflict that he is considering delaying a summit with China’s President Xi Jinping later this month as a pressure tactic to get Beijing to join the war effort.
The president argues that countries in China and Europe are more heavily reliant on gas from the Gulf via the Strait than the U.S. is.
“It’s only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there,” Trump told the Financial Times.
“If there’s no response or if it’s a negative response I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO.”
When asked on Air Force One if China has agreed to help tackle the Strait of Hormuz crisis, Trump replied that it is “a little early” to confirm anything.
“But China’s an interesting case study. They get most of their oil, they get a lot of, maybe 90 percent, from the Strait. So I said, ‘Would you like to come in?’ and we’ll find out. Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. There’s some other deeper reasons, but they may not. They should come in.
“I said years ago, ‘Why are we maintaining the Hormuz Strait, when it’s really there for China and many other countries? Why aren’t they doing it?’ And that’s because we had weak leadership, to be honest with you,” he added.
