WASHINGTON (AP) — 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 U.S. 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.
Exactly, and the war on Iran is going to act as an accelerant for the whole thing. It exposed the limits of American military power, and that there’s a severe economic cost to aligning with the US. So, even countries in the American orbit are being forced to hedge out of sheer necessity. As the western economic order continues to break down, we’re going to see more and more dog eat dog behavior from western capitalists.
Agreed!