MIAMI — The president of the United States, Donald Trump, asserted this Friday that Saudi Arabia and other of his Middle East “allies” such as Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) They have “done more” in the war against Iran than NATO, with which he is “very disappointed.”
“I want to thank the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it has helped a lot. Unlike NATO, Saudi Arabia fought, Qatar fought, Bahrain fought and Kuwait fought, although they shot down three of our planes,” the president declared at the FII Priority forum, organized by Saudi investors in Miami.
Trump reiterated his criticism of NATO, France, the United Kingdom and Germany for refusing to get involved or slow to support the United States in the four-week war against Iran, warning that he would not have helped Ukraine in the war against Russia if he had been president when it broke out in 2022.
The Republican leader indicated that this type of conflict shows “who your friends are.”
“I am very disappointed in NATO, but I was not disappointed in our allies in the Middle East, and others, and others. We had tremendous support from countries that are not in the general area, but they supported tremendously. I thought Turkey (a member of the Atlantic Alliance) was fantastic,” he said.
“They are not for us”
Trump reiterated his disappointment with NATO allies for not sending military support to secure the Strait of Hormuz during the war in the Middle East.
“They weren’t there,” he said at an economic event in Miami. “We spend billions of dollars a year on NATO, hundreds, protecting them, and we would have always been there for them, but now, because of their actions, I guess we don’t have to be there anymore, do we?”
“Why would we be there for them if they are not there for us? They were not there for us,” Trump insisted on his European allieswith whom he has had strong clashes since he returned to the White House in 2025. Trump proposed increasing NATO defense spending from 2% to 5% of the Gross Domestic Product, which was not well received by some of the allied countries such as Spain, which has failed to comply with the 2% quota.
NATO says that there are already thirty countries determined to help
Trump’s statements contrast with that of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who on Thursday acknowledged the American leader’s “frustration” with the allies’ slow response following his call for support to protect maritime transit in the Strait of Hormuz, now blocked by Iran.
Rutte highlighted that there are around thirty countries already willing to discuss their possible help in addition to justifying that the United States did not consult its allies before launching the offensive against Tehran “for compelling reasons, to ensure that no one knew what would happen that Saturday morning.”
“I’m very disappointed in NATO, they didn’t come to help, I didn’t try too hard, in fact, because I wanted to prove a point. I didn’t sell (the war). They probably think I’m a terrible salesman,” Trump said now.
The president also called a “friend” the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, who has pressured Trump to continue the war against Iran by arguing that it is a “historic opportunity,” according to the New York Times reported this week.
