Trump rips NATO, says US membership ‘beyond reconsideration’

President Trump said that U.S. membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is “beyond reconsideration,” marking one of his strongest rebukes of the alliance to date. 

“I would say [it’s] beyond reconsideration. I was never swayed by NATO. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way,” Trump said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an interview with The Telegraph published on Wednesday.

“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,” the president told the British publication. 

Trump’s comments hitting NATO are the latest in which he has slammed allies for not heeding his calls to help the U.S. police the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global shipping lane that Iran has closed since the start of the U.S.-Israeli military operation in the country. 

On Tuesday, Trump told U.S. allies to either purchase U.S. oil or get it from the Strait of Hormuz, saying they need to start learning how to fight for themselves. 

Many U.S. allies, including European countries, have been hit hard by the war’s impact on oil, given that they obtain oil from the strait. 

Trump has been particularly critical of the U.K.’s response to the crisis. 

“You don’t even have a navy. You’re too old and had aircraft carriers that didn’t work,” the president said in the interview with The Telegraph.

“I’m not going to tell him what to do. He can do whatever he wants. It doesn’t matter. All Starmer wants is costly windmills that are driving your energy prices through the roof,” he continued, referring to the country’s prime minister, Keir Starmer. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared to echo Trump’s comments on Tuesday evening, telling Fox News that the U.S. will reexamine its relationship with the alliance and that the decision ultimately lies with the president. 

Trump told the Telegraph he was “glad” Rubio made the comments. 

Rubio spearheaded legislation during his time in the Senate that would prevent any president from withdrawing the U.S. from NATO without approval from the Senate or an act of Congress.

Updated at 8:28 a.m. EDT

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