A humiliated Donald Trump has declared the U.S. no longer needs global help with the Iran war after his earlier pleas to join the conflict were soundly rejected.
One day after urging European allies to “step up” and assist America in the Middle East, the president reversed course on Tuesday and lashed out at NATO for making a “very foolish mistake.”
“We don’t need any help,” Trump insisted.
“You know, despite the fact that we help them so much—we have thousands of soldiers in different countries all over the world, and they don’t want to help us, which is amazing. I mean, amazing,” he added.
“I’ve long said that I wonder whether or not NATO would ever be there for us. So this was a great test, because we don’t need them—but they should have been there.”
The president’s comments about NATO not being there for the U.S. belie the fact that allied nations came to America’s aid after September 11 and died assisting U.S. forces on the frontlines of Afghanistan.
But his remarks are emblematic of the anger within the White House over the refusal of countries such as Britain, Germany, France and Spain to get embroiled in the conflict, which has now entered its third week.
“We are not party to the conflict and therefore France will never take part in operations to open or liberate the Strait of Hormuz in the current context,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday.
“Once the situation has calmed down, that is to say, once the main bombing has ceased, we are ready, along with other nations, to assume responsibility for the escort system.”
The issue has become particularly contentious for Trump, with a standoff in the Strait of Hormuz fueling a rapidly worsening energy crisis.
The national average price for gas hit $3.80 a gallon, according to GasBuddy.com, while diesel rose above $5 for the first time in more than three years. The average cost of a gallon of diesel is $5.03.
This means Americans will spend $330 million more on gas now than they did a month ago.
As oil prices soar, Trump has been hitting the phones for days, and on Monday, he even claimed that some nations had offered to help but refused to say who.
He also told reporters that he had spoken to France about efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, grading their cooperation an 8 out of 10.
“Not perfect. But it’s France, we don’t expect perfect,” Trump quipped.
Asked Tuesday about Macron’s comments, he simply replied: “Well, he’ll be out of office very soon, so we’ll have to see.”
The president was dealt another blow on Tuesday, when the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, resigned from his post due to the war.
“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” he wrote on X.
“Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”
Kent was a top administration official serving under Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, an anti-interventionist who once ran as a Democrat against Trump going to war with Iran before she joined his administration.
“Kent and I don’t agree on much, but he is right,” said Senator Bernie Sanders, noting that Iran did not pose an imminent threat.
MAGA world, however, has raged against the move, depicting the intelligence officer as a “loser” and a “leak” who likely resigned before he could be sacked.
Asked about Kent’s resignation on Tuesday, Trump said Kent was a “nice guy but I always thought he was weak on security.”
“It’s a good thing that he’s out because he said Iran was not a threat. Iran was a threat to every country,” he said.
