Trump doubts NATO support in future major conflict, cites Iran pattern

U.S. President Donald Trump has criticised NATO’s reliability and questioned its willingness to support the United States in a major conflict, describing the alliance as a “paper tiger” in comments during a radio interview with Hugh Hewitt.

Referring to recent tensions involving Iran, Trump said NATO had failed to provide meaningful backing to Washington.

“Europe has been very disappointing, and one of the things that came out of our skirmish with Iran, I think, is that NATO wasn’t there for us,” he said.

He also reiterated long-standing complaints about defence spending within the alliance, claiming the U.S. had previously borne a disproportionate share of costs.

“There was a time before I got here, we were spending, we were paying for 100% of the costs of NATO. Not 80%, not 50%, we were paying for a 100%,” Trump said, adding that the financial burden had since shifted.

According to Trump, NATO members are now contributing more, including through weapons purchases that he said are indirectly benefiting Ukraine.

“Now, they pay more… I say you have to pay for it. You buy missiles, you have to pay for it. They pay for it. They probably then give it over to Ukraine to use, and Ukraine uses them well,” he said.

However, he argued that despite increased spending, the alliance would not be dependable in a high-intensity conflict.

“But it turned out to be a paper tiger. And when we needed NATO… they were not there for us,” Trump said.

He warned that in the event of a larger confrontation, he did not expect allied support.

“If we have a bigger case, if we have the big one… I don’t believe they’d be there for us, Hugh,” he added.

By Aghakazim Guliyev