President Donald Trump on Monday recast his weekend call for American allies to deploy warships to the Strait of Hormuz as a test of loyalty rather than a strategic necessity.
The shift in Trump’s framing of the issue came after nearly half a dozen countries either pushed back directly on the request or showed no enthusiasm about complying.
“We don’t need anybody,” Trump insisted during a press conference in the East Room of the White House. “We’re the strongest nation in the world. We have the strongest military by far.”
“I’m almost doing it, in some cases, not because we need them, but because I want to find out how they’ll react,” he continued, adding, “I’ve been saying for years that if we ever did need them, they won’t be there.”
The latter remark was a reminder of Trump’s long-standing grievances with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The president contends that the United States is the reason the alliance remains powerful. He also often complains that other members neither contribute their fair share nor show much eagerness to support the United States.
“They should be jumping to help us,” Trump said on Monday, “Because we’ve helped them for years stay out of wars.”
In an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, Trump warned that a failure to help the U.S. would be “very bad for the future of NATO.”
The comments come as the joint American-Israeli campaign against Iran enters its third week. The Strait of Hormuz — a vital passageway for global energy supplies — remains effectively shuttered. Tankers are stranded, and the disruption has spiked the price of oil and gas.
Some European nations, wary of escalation, have ruled out sending their navies into harm’s way to reopen the waterway, while others are weighing alternative measures to secure the strait.
“We will not participate in ensuring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz by military means,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in a statement. “The war in the Middle East is not a matter for NATO. Therefore, Germany will not become militarily involved.”
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told reporters that “diplomacy needs to prevail,” and that his country would not be involved in naval missions that could ease the blockage. The French foreign ministry posted on social media that its navy was staying in the eastern Mediterranean: “Let’s be clear: There is no change in posture.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, speaking from Downing Street on Monday, asserted the United Kingdom would not be “drawn into the wider war” with Iran but was working with allies on a “viable plan” to reopen the strait.
Australia and Japan have declined to dispatch warships.
The Iranian government, for its part, has signaled no intention of surrendering. “We never asked for a cease fire, and we have never asked even for negotiation,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview with CBS News on Sunday. “We are ready to defend ourselves as long as it takes.”
Tanya Noury is a reporter for Military Times and Defense News, with coverage focusing on the White House and Pentagon.
