[🇺🇸] USA and NATO

[Saif]

Date of Event: Mar 29, 2026

Source: https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/world/trump-says-us-doesnt-have-to-be-there-for-nato

Trump says 'US doesn’t have to be there for NATO'

REUTERS
Published :
Mar 28, 2026 10:19
Updated :
Mar 28, 2026 10:19

Donald Trump said on Friday the United States does not "have to be there for NATO”, comments that again raised questions about the US president's commitment to the mutual defense provisions at the center of the transatlantic alliance.

Speaking to an investment forum in Miami on Friday night, Trump said he was upset that European NATO countries had declined to provide material support to the US as it nears the fourth week of its ongoing war on Iran.

European allies were not consulted by the US on its decision to attack Iran late last month, and many leaders in the alliance opposed the action.

"We would have always been there for them, but now, based on their actions, I guess we don't have to be, do we?" Trump told the audience.

"That sounds like a breaking story? Yes, sir. Is that breaking news? I think we just have breaking news, but that's the fact. I've been saying that. Why would we be there for them if they're not there for us? They weren't there for us."

The president has had a famously on-again-off-again relationship with the alliance, and he has at various points made comments that provoked questions about his willingness to adhere to NATO's Article 5, which states an attack against one member state is an attack on all.

On the campaign trail in 2024, Trump famously encouraged Russian President Vladimir Putin to attack European NATO countries that did not pay their fair share on defense.

His relationship with several European leaders, however, appeared to improve over the course of 2025.

But Washington-Brussels relations again soured in 2026 after Trump ramped up his threats to invade Greenland, which is an overseas territory of Denmark.​

 

[Saif]

Starmer says NATO in US’s ‘interests’ as Gulf tour ends

British prime minister Keir Starmer insisted on Friday that NATO was ‘in America’s interests’ as he ended a three-day visit to the Gulf to discuss bolstering the ‘fragile’ Middle East truce...

www.newagebd.net

Starmer says NATO in US’s ‘interests’ as Gulf tour ends
Agence France-Presse . Doha, Qatar 10 April, 2026, 22:26

Keir Starmer

British prime minister Keir Starmer insisted on Friday that NATO was ‘in America’s interests’ as he ended a three-day visit to the Gulf to discuss bolstering the ‘fragile’ Middle East truce.

Starmer’s comments followed US president Donald Trump’s renewed attacks this week on the Western military alliance and his threats to withdraw from it, after a refusal by NATO allies to join the US-Israel war against Iran.

‘It is in America’s interests. It’s in European interests,’ Starmer told UK broadcasters of the nearly 80-year-old security bloc.

‘NATO is a defensive alliance, which for decades has kept us much safer than we would otherwise have been,’ he added, while reiterating European members ‘need to do more’ financial burden sharing.

Starmer spoke before leaving Qatar, the last stop of his tour of the war-hit region which also included visits to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain

The British leader talked by phone to Trump late on Thursday, when he said he set out ‘the views of the region here’ to the US president, primarily centred on the Strait of Hormuz.

The crucial maritime chokepoint has remained largely closed in recent days.

It was due to be re-opened under a temporary ceasefire between the United States and Iran, announced this week, but has been jeopardised by Israeli attacks on Lebanon and accusations that the truce is not being implemented.

‘We spent most of the time on the call talking about the practical plan that’s going to be needed to get navigation through the Strait and the role that the UK is playing,’ Starmer said.

He said the UK was building a coalition of over 30 countries to work on a diplomatic and military plan to get vessels moving through the waterway.

In an earlier interview, Starmer had appeared to draw parallels between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, expressing frustration over rising oil and other costs linked to the war.

‘I’m fed up with the fact that families across the country see their bills go up and down on energy, businesses’ bills go up and down on energy, because of the actions of Putin or Trump,’ he said.​