April 1, 2026, 1:05 p.mApril 1, 2026, 3:55 p.m
The Iran war is becoming a stress test for NATO. There is hardly any debate that US membership needs to be reconsidered after the end of the war, Trump told the British newspaper “The Telegraph”.
Donald Trump and Marco Rubio are threatening to leave NATO.Image: keystone
The US government has been criticizing for weeks what it sees as a lack of support from NATO partners, particularly in the conflict over the Strait of Hormuz, which is important for world trade but blocked by Iran.
NATO is a “paper tiger,” said Trump. “We will have to re-examine the value of NATO and this alliance for our country,” said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in an interview with Fox News. Both were alluding to the fact that European NATO partners have so far refused to actively support the Iran war and have sometimes even openly criticized it as violating international law.
Assumptions behind the threat
In NATO, many people still view Trump and Rubio’s statements about their possible exit relatively calmly. It is assumed that the US government’s main aim is to force greater support for the US approach.
It is also pointed out that Trump cannot decide to leave NATO on his own because of national legal hurdles and that there would also be significant economic and military disadvantages. Trump, for example, would risk that Europeans would become even more technologically emancipated and buy significantly less military equipment from US companies. The US industry could lose billions in business. In addition, the USA may have to close strategically important military sites in Europe. (hkl)