Trump says he is considering leaving NATO, calling it a ‘paper tiger’ – National
US President Donald Trump is considering leaving the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), he told the British newspaper The Telegraph on Wednesday.
Trump called the 77-year-old US-led military alliance a “paper tiger” and said Russian President Vladimir Putin “knows that,” in an interview with the Telegraph.
Trump, frustrated by America’s allies refusing to get involved in America’s war with Iran and subsequent efforts to force Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to international traffic, was asked in an interview whether he would reconsider ending America’s membership in the alliance.
“Oh yes, I can say [it’s] without reconsideration. I have never been influenced by NATO. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that,” Trump said in the interview.
The Strait of Hormuz carries a third of the world’s oil trade and has been closed for weeks, with Iran blocking the vital waterway as it trades with the US and Israel.
Trump said he was frustrated by allies who “don’t exist” to help the US
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“Without being there, it was actually hard to believe. And I didn’t make a big deal. I just said, ‘Hey,’ you know, I didn’t stress too much. I think it should be automatic,” he said.
Trump’s explanations for why the US launched the attack on Iran have changed several times in recent weeks since the war began on February 28.
Earlier this month, Foreign Minister Anita Anand said that NATO has not received an official request from Washington for member countries to officially launch efforts to protect the Strait of Hormuz.
“To the best of our knowledge, no request has been made to NATO for the type of assistance requested and Canada, as a founding member of NATO, continues to support the principles of collective defence,” he said.
In his interview with the Telegraph, Trump said the US was “there” to support Ukraine against Russian aggression.
“We have been there automatically, including Ukraine. Ukraine was not our problem. It was a test, and we were there for them, and we would always be there. They were not there for us,” he said.
Trump has long criticized NATO members for not increasing their defense spending. In June 2025, Canada joined other NATO countries in pledging five percent of its budget to defense spending by 2035.
Last week, NATO confirmed that Canada had reached its goal of spending two percent of its GDP on national defense by March of this year.
On Wednesday, Trump also said that Iran’s president wants an end to the conflict ahead of his speech to the American people scheduled for this evening.
Trump made the claim on his Truth Social website. Iran did not immediately respond to Trump’s post.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in an interview with Al Jazeera broadcast late Tuesday, indicated Tehran’s determination to continue fighting.
“You cannot talk to the Iranian people with the language of threats and deadlines,” he said. “We do not set ourselves a deadline for defense.”
— via files from The Associated Press.
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