Trump Threatens to Pull U.S. Out of NATO Over Iran War Refusal

President Donald Trump threatened to withdraw the United States from NATO on Wednesday, telling the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph that he was "strongly considering" leaving the 77-year-old alliance after its members refused to join the ongoing U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran.

"I was never swayed by NATO," Trump said in the interview. "I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way." When asked directly whether he would reconsider U.S. membership in the alliance after the Iran conflict ends, Trump said the issue was "beyond reconsideration."

The remarks landed as the rift between Washington and its European partners deepened by the day. Spain had refused to allow U.S. military aircraft to use its airspace or jointly operate from its bases in support of the conflict. Italy denied landing rights to American military aircraft at its Sigonella air base in Sicily. Poland declined to relocate its Patriot air defense batteries to shore up regional defenses in the Middle East. Germany's defense minister stated flatly that the Iran conflict is "not our war."

Trump launched major combat operations against Iran on February 28, with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes hitting military and government sites across the country. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in Tehran on the first day of the strikes; his son Mojtaba Khamenei was later chosen to succeed him. Iran has since responded with waves of missile and drone attacks against Israel, regional U.S. military bases, and multiple Gulf states, while moving to disrupt shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint that carries roughly 20 percent of global oil shipments.

European allies were not consulted before strikes began, a grievance that has colored their resistance throughout the now month-long conflict. Officials in several capitals have also cited fears of being drawn into another open-ended Middle East war, pointing to the protracted U.S. campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan as cautionary precedents.

Trump's frustration has not been quiet. He has called NATO partners "cowards" and indicated he expected their cooperation to be automatic. "Beyond not being there, it was actually hard to believe," he said of the allied refusal. "I just think it should be automatic. We've been there automatically."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed the threat in an appearance on Fox News Tuesday night. "Unfortunately, we are going to have to re-examine whether or not this alliance that has served this country well for a while is still serving that purpose, or if it has now become a one-way street where America is simply in a position to defend Europe, but when we need the help of our allies, they're going to deny us basing rights and overflight," Rubio said.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who was also targeted in the Telegraph interview when Trump mocked the UK's naval capacity, pushed back directly. NATO, Starmer said at a Wednesday press conference, "has kept us safe for many decades," and Britain would not "get dragged into" the Iran war. He added that regardless of pressure from Washington, he would act in the British national interest.

If Trump follows through, a U.S. exit would dissolve the foundational security architecture of the post-World War II Western order at the precise moment Europe faces concurrent pressure from the Russia-Ukraine conflict and a fracturing relationship with its most powerful longtime ally.