Trump complains NATO 'wasn't there when we needed them' after talks with Rutte

WASHINGTON, April 9, (AP): US President Donald Trump repeated his complaint about NATO after a closed-door meeting with the alliance's Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Wednesday for discussions that had been expected to be aimed at soothing Trump’s anger with the military alliance over the Iran war.

Ahead of the private meeting, Trump had suggested the US may consider leaving the trans-Atlantic alliance after NATO member countries ignored his call to help as Iran effectively shut the the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping waterway, and sent gas prices soaring. Afterward, he issued an all-caps comment on social media suggesting he remained aggrieved.

"NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN,” Trump said in his post. The White House did not immediately offer any further updates. The Republican president has had a warm relationship with Rutte in the past, and the meeting came after the US and Iran late Tuesday agreed to a two-week ceasefire that includes the reopening of the strait.

The nascent ceasefire was struck after Trump said he would strike Iran's power plants and bridges, threatening that "a whole civilization will die tonight." Earlier Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt acknowledged that Trump had discussed leaving NATO. "I think it’s something the president will be discussing in a couple of hours with Secretary-General Rutte,” Leavitt said.

Congress in 2023 passed a law that prevents any US president from pulling out of NATO without its approval. Trump has been a longtime critic of NATO and in his first term had suggested he had the authority on his own to leave the alliance, which was founded in 1949 to counter the Cold War threat posed to European security by the Soviet Union.

The crux of the commitment its 32 member countries make is a mutual defense agreement in which an attack on one is considered an attack on them all. The only time it has been activated was in 2001, to support the United States in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington. Despite that, Trump has complained during his war of choice with Iran that NATO has shown it will not be there for the US.

On Wednesday, he also seemed to be angry about NATO's stance on Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of NATO member Denmark. Trump had pressed for U.S. control over Greenland earlier this year before backing off after talks with Rutte. "REMEMBER GREENLAND, THAT BIG, POORLY RUN, PIECE OF ICE!!!” Trump posted Wednesday. d "increasing coordination and burden shifting with NATO allies.”