Trump Says “Very Disappointed in NATO," Threatens Review

(MENAFN) President Donald Trump unleashed a blistering rebuke of NATO late Sunday, warning that the decades-old military alliance faces a fundamental reckoning over its failure to stand alongside the United States during its war with Iran.

"I'm very disappointed in NATO," Trump told reporters upon landing at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. "They weren't there for us. We pay trillions of dollars for NATO, and they weren't there for us."

The President made clear the slight would not go unanswered, warning that the alliance's role is "going to be under very serious examining."

Trump doubled down on his criticism, suggesting that late-arriving support from member nations was too little, too late. "Remember what I said. NATO was not there. Now they want to come up, but there's no real threat anymore. But NATO was not there for us," he said.

Broadening his attack, Trump also called into question the fundamental rationale underpinning the alliance itself — an organization the US has bankrolled for decades primarily as a bulwark against Russian aggression. "I long thought it was a little ridiculous," he added, saying the US "spent trillions of dollars on NATO to help them guard, really against Russia."

The remarks represent one of the most pointed challenges to NATO unity in recent memory, raising fresh alarm among European allies already navigating an increasingly unpredictable Washington.

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