Trump urges NATO to take measures to secure Strait of Hormuz

President Donald Trump, during a meeting on April 8 with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, pushed for urgent concrete measures from NATO members to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, two European diplomats familiar with the matter told CNN.

One of the diplomats said Trump pressed for those commitments within a matter of days. The other noted that the issue is urgent not only for the US, but also for Europe.

That diplomat said it was useful to have a “friend” like Rutte explain to Trump that the NATO allies were “totally surprised” by the US-Israeli war against Iran — with some of them having to evacuate their citizens from the region — and to make clear to the president that NATO countries are working as a coalition to help support opening the strait.

“What we are seeing under the leadership of (British Prime Minister) Keir Starmer and these 34 countries working closely with the US is, of course, a shared commitment and agreement that we cannot accept the strait to be closed. It has to be opening up. And when it is opened up, we have to keep it open,” Rutte emphasised in remarks in Washington on Thursday.

Still, in social media posts after his Wednesday meeting with Rutte, Trump continued to lash out at NATO. “NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN,” he wrote that evening.