U.S. President Donald Trump is considering leaving the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), he told British newspaper the Telegraph on Wednesday.
Trump called the 77-year-old U.S.-led military alliance a “paper tiger” and said Russian President Vladimir Putin “knows that too,” in an interview with the Telegraph.
Trump, who has been frustrated by U.S. allies refusing to get involved in the U.S. war on Iran and the subsequent efforts to force Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to full international traffic, was asked in the interview if he would reconsider ending U.S. membership in the alliance.
The Strait of Hormuz accounts for one-third of the global oil trade and has been closed for weeks, with Iran blockading the key waterway as it exchanges strikes with the U.S. and Israel.
Trump said he was frustrated with allies “not being there” to help the U.S.
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“Beyond not being there, it was actually hard to believe. And I didn’t do a big sale. I just said, ‘Hey,’ you know, I didn’t insist too much. I just think it should be automatic,” he said.
Trump’s explanations for why the U.S. launched the attacks on Iran have shifted repeatedly over recent weeks since the war began on Feb. 28.
Earlier this month, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said NATO had not received a formal request from Washington for member countries to formally launch efforts to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
“To our knowledge, a request has not been made to NATO for the type of assistance that is being requested and Canada, as a founding member of NATO, continues to support the principles of collective defence,” she said.
In his Telegraph interview, Trump said the U.S. has “been there” to support Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.
“We’ve been there automatically, including Ukraine. Ukraine wasn’t our problem. It was a test, and we were there for them, and we would always have been there for them. They weren’t there for us,” he said.
Trump has long criticized NATO members for not increasing their defence spending. In June 2025, Canada joined other NATO countries in pledging five per cent of its budget on defence spending by 2035.
Last week, NATO confirmed that Canada has hit its target of spending two per cent of its GDP on national defence by March of this year.
Trump on Wednesday also claimed that Iran’s president wanted a ceasefire ahead of his speech to the American people set for later this evening.
Trump made the claim on his Truth Social website. Iran had no immediate response to Trump’s post.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in an interview with Al Jazeera aired late Tuesday, signalled Tehran’s willingness to keep fighting.
“You cannot speak to the people of Iran in the language of threats and deadlines,” he said. “We do not set any deadline for defending ourselves.”
Trump’s expectation that NATO allies help him with his military operations in Iran runs contrary to the purpose of the alliance, said David Perry, president and CEO of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.
“It is meant to be a defensive alliance to protect all members of the wider alliance structure and is supposed to operate by consensus,” Perry said.
While Trump has threatened the alliance in the past, Canadians should take his threats seriously, Perry said.
“The U.S. Congress took it seriously enough that they passed a measure that would make it more difficult for the president to just withdraw on his own volition,” he said, referring to a 2023 measure included in the National Defense Authorization Act.
The measure was spearheaded by then-Senator Marco Rubio, who now serves as Trump’s Secretary of State, and was signed into law by former President Joe Biden.
In addition to the U.S. spending more than all other members of the alliance combined on defence, NATO also depends on the U.S. for intelligence, logistics support, combat search and rescue, aerial refueling, airborne command and control, Perry said.
“The alliance disproportionately relies on the United States, still,” he said.
The “friction” in NATO is beneficial to Russian interests, he added.
“All of the open friction and animosity we’ve seen in the NATO alliance, just in 2026, would be something that the Kremlin would have written about in their dream journal,” Perry said.
— with files from The Associated Press.
I think the U.S. have Every right to do this, especially since Nato is choosing to turn their backs on the U.S. has backed u their sorry butts and they have the gaul to act this way, Such Cowardice from Nato
To the comment below me:
TDS this TDS that. SYBAU you clown shoes size 24 trump bag licker
I see someone with severe TDS is using my name again to comment. Too bad they don’t have the co jones to post their name……Oh well 🤷🏻
NATO should bomb the hell out of mar a lago since the US military refuse to overthrow their dictator
Trump is absolutely correct on this one. Almost every NATO member has neglected to pay its agreed upon NATO dues for decades. The mooching must come to an end.
Former Netherlands Prime Minister and current General Secretary , Mark Rutte said “European countries are kidding themselves thinking they can defend themselves without the USA.”
I think most NATO nations would normally be glad to help the USA …. if it wasn’t being run by a spoiled narcissistic juvenile bully who daily changes his mind like a toddler with a garage full of toys.
Except he can’t without congress.
Nobody was a bigger grifter than me. I used God’s name to fill my pockets with money. Unfortunately I didn’t use any of that money to buy myself some body armor. Oh well 🤷🏻
And NATO calls Trump a Fat Pig
First, unilateral withdrawal would likely face legal challenges and political resistance. And, second, while there are legitimate debates about NATO’s effectiveness, calling it a “paper tiger” overlooks its operational record and deterrence role especially in Europe and following the 9-11 attacks in the USA. The latter is the only time NATO’s collective defense was invoked. That resulted in multinational military efforts over nearly two decades.
Because no one wants to get involved he throws a fit, remember you never asked if you could start a war, you most likely did’ not even consider it l, so now you are all upset because of your own doing, wow. You are an embarrassment,
NATO’S mandate is not to protect billionaire pedophiles from the truth.
NATO is 2 faced liars. First they want to ally together for Ukraine….which is not even in NATO member, nor is is close to the North Atlantic. US gave more then hundred billon $$$ and alot of support in other ways. When the request came from the US, NATO declined citing that it has nothing to do with the North Atlantic. Oh really? Ukraine also has nothing to do with the North Atlantic. NATO should have been dropped long time ago.
As proven in the illegal Iran conflict where the USA was held to a standstill, the only paper tiger is the USA with their useless $trillion military… How embarrassing it must be for Americans and a huge expense that could have been put to far better use for healthcare and education!
Is there any one in the USA that has a brain? So far I have seen little proof that there is. Why would we get involved in a war started by the brainless orange buffoon and all his brainless ass kissers.
He can’t. Only the US Congress can do that
It takes a real tough leader to make war on little girls. /s
These repeated comments about how “NATO didn’t hold itself to its promises when it didn’t join the aggressive invasion of Iran” show a distinct lack of uncerstanding of what the USA government is threatening to pull out of. NATO is a defensive treaty. The allies are promised to come to each others’ defense, if any member nation is attacked. NOT to join an attack on any nation started (and apparently unprovoked and unjustified) by a member nation. It is not an AGGRESSIVE treaty. It is a DEFENSIVE treaty. Somehow, those elected and appointed to positions of authority in the USA don’t have that grade-school grasp of what any of these things mean.
and can somebody explain why NATO is fighting Russia over Ukraine a non NATO member
Well NATO didn’t bomb a girl’s school so there’s that. trump did. Dumb war or what?
Trump and the rest of maga know that nato is a defence alliance, Trump and Isreal started this war, They were not attacked. The only time artical 5 was needed was in defence of the USA
9 11. So get you head out of his ass
A complete and utter wanker….the lot of the maggots.
Trump started the war on Iran with Israel. They are both in the doghouse for their attacks and supporting each other. Why would North Atlantic Treaty Organization have anything to do with Iran? It does not border the Atlantic. And if it was to defend an attacked country, it would be coming to the defence of Iran, not USA.
This is Trump’s war to lose. He is heading there now. The only question is how fast he can undo his damage, and what excuse he will use.
F*ck “Murica and F*ck Trump.
Smart move. All these grifting global scam organizations do little but take cash and push globalists DEI agendas.
Canada should do the same!
Out of NATO and out of UN!
Enough is enough.
Now trump won’t be able to blab to Putin what NATO is up to. Cool. More Russians are joining Ukraine’s side.
The US intelligence services have warned Republican and Democrat administrations for decades that their allies – including Canada – could not be trusted
Like all the others Trump didnt get the memo