From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, March 17, 2026
Trump: NATO allies refusing our request for assistance in Iran war, but we don’t need their help anyway
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US President Donald Trump says that most NATO allies have declined his request to help provide safe passage to ships through the Iran-blocked Strait of Hormuz but that Washington doesn’t need their help anyway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO ‘allies’ that they don’t want to get involved with our military operation against the terrorist regime of Iran, in the Middle East. This, despite the fact that almost every country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump writes in a Truth Social post.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of billions of dollars per year protecting these same countries, to be a one way street. We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” he continues.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s military. Their Navy is gone, their air force is gone, their anti-aircraft and radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern allies, or the world, again!”
“Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer ‘need,’ or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance — WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea,” Trump writes.
“In fact, speaking as President of the United States of America, by far the most powerful country anywhere in the world, WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!”
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