Trump demands other nations clear Strait of Hormuz, claims NATO’s future at stake

President Donald Trump seeks to enlist the international community in helping the United States clear the Strait of Hormuz and suggested that a lackluster showing by NATO members may place the alliance’s future in doubt.

Trump said in a Truth Social post on Saturday, “The United States of America has beaten and completely decimated Iran, both Militarily, Economically, and in every other way, but the Countries of the World that receive Oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage, and we will help — A LOT!”

‘Whatever it takes.’

“The U.S. will also coordinate with those Countries so that everything goes quickly, smoothly, and well,” continued Trump. “This should have always been a team effort, and now it will be — It will bring the World together toward Harmony, Security, and Everlasting Peace!”

After the U.S. and Israel again bombed Iran last month, Tehran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz in what War Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday was an act of “sheer desperation” that people “don’t need to worry about.”

According to Lloyd’s List Intelligence, 16 commercial vessels have been attacked in and around the Strait of Hormuz since the outset of the conflict. The attacks, effected largely with surface-to-surface missiles but also with the use of drones and mines, have killed numerous crew members and forced others — at least in the case of the Safeen Prestige, a container ship flying under the flag of Malta — to abandon ship.

The strait’s corresponding closure has proven globally consequential, as roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil normally transits the strait, which lies between Iran and Oman and links the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman.

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Photo by Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Energy prices have skyrocketed in recent weeks. The price of Brent crude, for example, was over $100 per barrel ahead of market opening on Monday. U.S. gas prices are reportedly at their highest level since Oct. 7, 2023.

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, noted on Sunday, “Americans today will spend $300 million more on gasoline than they did 30 days ago.”

On Saturday, Trump specifically expressed hope that China, France, Japan, South Korea, and Britain “will send Ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a Nation that has been totally decapitated.”

Trump told the Financial Times the next day that it is “only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there.”

“If there’s no response or if it’s a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO,” added Trump, who told U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on March 7 that he didn’t need the help of British aircraft carriers.

“We have a thing called NATO,” Trump told the Times. “We’ve been very sweet. We didn’t have to help them with Ukraine. Ukraine is thousands of miles away from us … but we helped them. Now we’ll see if they help us. Because I’ve long said that we’ll be there for them but they won’t be there for us. And I’m not sure that they’d be there.”

When asked what kind of help is needed, the president said, “Whatever it takes.”

It appears that some nations are not in a rush to help.

Japanese Prime Minister Sane Takaichi said her nation, which has begun releasing oil reserves, has yet to make “any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships,” reported the Independent.

Australian Transport Minister Catherine King said her country “won’t be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz,” adding that “we know how incredibly important that is, but that’s not something we’ve been asked or we’re contributing to.”

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