US President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused several key NATO allies of refusing to support the United States during its military operation against Iran, saying their response left him disappointed despite decades of American security commitments to Europe.
Speaking alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte before a meeting of alliance leaders in Ankara, Trump said the alliance had failed an important test when Washington sought support against what he called "the number one state sponsor of terror."
"I'm not happy with NATO because of the fact that they didn't wanna help us with the number one state sponsor of terror, that's Iran," Trump said. "They were unwilling to help us." The President said he had deliberately watched how allies responded, even though the United States did not require military assistance.
"I was really testing. I wanted to see whether or not they'd be there. And the answer is..." Trump said before listing several allies he said declined to participate. He said he personally contacted several European leaders. "I spoke to Germany, I spoke to France, spoke to UK, spoke to Italy," Trump said.
"I didn't speak to Spain. Spain is a wasted cause." Trump also said he was dissatisfied with Britain's initial response. "I spoke with the UK and the Prime Minister said, 'Well, we don't wanna help you now, but we'll help you when the war's over.' I said, 'That's not good.'"
"Likewise, I spoke to Germany, they didn't wanna help. Spoke to France, they didn't wanna help. Nobody wanted to help." He added that only some of NATO's smaller members had expressed support. "Some of the very small countries wanted to help because they're the most vulnerable," Trump said.
Rutte responded by defending the alliance and arguing that European allies had, in fact, provided substantial operational support during the US campaign. "I would say these are isolated cases," the NATO Secretary General said. "Five thousand planes taking off from European airports in support of Epic Fury.
It was Europe as one big platform of power projection for the United States." Rutte said Germany, France and several other countries had supported the operation by providing access to bases and other logistical assistance. "We discussed the Bucharest Airport, which was closed for a couple of days for commercial traffic because you needed it for Epic Fury and they were totally fine," he said.
Trump acknowledged some assistance had been provided but maintained that key allies had fallen short of what he expected. "The United Kingdom would've let us use the island for two weeks," he said, while adding that "Italy was very bad having to do with their bases."
Rutte has broadly backed Trump's efforts to increase allied defence spending while emphasising that NATO remains united in responding to common security challenges.