The enemy gets a vote; so do allies

President Trump has voiced his frustration with allied reluctance to help the United States reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He specifically called upon France, Japan, South Korea, and Britain as well as NATO to send warships as well as mine countermeasures systems to support the American effort. Thus far, neither NATO nor any of the four named countries, nor any other, has responded positively to Trump’s request.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said that while Britain will give American forces access to bases, it will only do so for “limited defensive action.” He has made it clear, while Britain will take “the necessary action” to defend itself and its allies, his country “will not be drawn into the wider war.” Starmer cannot afford to alienate the British public that by significant majorities opposes British involvement in the war; his standing in public opinion polls already has declined significantly since Labor won an overwhelming Parliamentary majority in 2024. The last time Britain gave only cautious support to an American operation was during the course of the Vietnam War.

French and German reluctance to join American operations in the Strait of Hormuz reflects a degree of hesitancy that is of more recent vintage. Both states supported Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, but France and Germany refused to support the Second Gulf War.

Although both Japan and South Korea did support the 2003 American operation in Iraq, Tokyo has made it clear that it will not become involved in the operations in the Gulf. For its part, Seoul has been reluctant to part with Patriot missiles that the U.S. needs in its war with Iran but recognizes that it will have to comply with American demands. On the other hand, It has delayed responding to Trump’s request for assistance in clearing the Strait and clearly prefers not to do so.

Finally, Canberra made it clear that, it too would not send ships to help the United States, although it had not received a request from Washington to do so. Perhaps anticipating that such a request would be forthcoming, Transport Minister Catherine King said that “We won’t be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz. We know how incredibly important that is but that’s not something we’ve been asked or we’re contributing to.”

A frustrated President Trump threatened NATO with a “very bad future” if it did not support the American effort to keep the Straits open. And he even asked China to contribute its mine warfare capability. Trump opined that he might delay his planned summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping since he preferred first to know Beijing’s answer to his request. “I think China should help because China gets 90% of its oil from the Straits,” he said.

Why Trump would ask China, whose fleet could threaten not only Taiwan but American territories in the Pacific, for help in the Middle East is difficult to understand. In any event, the Chinese flatly rejected his request. As Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian put it: “China once again calls on parties to immediately stop military operations, avoid further escalation of the tense situation and prevent regional turmoil from further impacting the global economy.”

Having bluntly demanded help from America’s allies only days before, it is also puzzling why Trump did an about-face, instead arguing that his request from NATO was nothing more than a “test.” After attacking NATO for “making a very foolish mistake,” he added it “was a great test because we don’t need them [NATO allies], but they should have been there.” Moreover, it is not clear why this was a test for NATO, but not for South Korea or Japan to whom the president also had appealed. Equally unclear is how China, which denied the request from Washington, might fit into the president’s notion of a test.

Despite the president’s change of heart, his initial request clearly indicates the importance of allied support for American operations. Perhaps this time the United States can go it alone and keep the strait open or operate in tandem with Israeli strikes on Iranian boats and minelayers. That may not be the case in a future contingency, however.

Perhaps even in the current war, the president could entice at least some allies to reconsider their refusal. Might an announcement to eliminate recently imposed tariff increases in exchange for allied participation in clearing the Strait of Hormuz change the minds of allied policy makers? That could be an offer that at least some of them would find very hard to refuse.

Dov S. Zakheim is a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and vice chairman of the board for the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He was undersecretary of Defense (comptroller) and chief financial officer for the Department of Defense from 2001 to 2004 and a deputy undersecretary of Defense from 1985 to 1987.

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