Trump Rages After NATO Allies Didn’t Jump Into Iran War

Donald Trump is crashing out on Truth Social after European allies weren’t gung-ho to jump into the Iran war he started without consulting with them and is deeply unpopular in their countries.

With global shipping and energy prices upended by Iran’s effective shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, Trump has been trying to enlist naval support from other nations.

But the leaders of several countries — including Germany, France, Australia, Canada, Italy and Japan — have already ruled out sending naval vessels.

Some reactions from world leaders via the Washington Post:

“While taking the necessary action to defend ourselves and our allies, we will not be drawn into the wider war,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday.

“This is not Europe’s war,” the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said Monday evening after foreign ministers of the European Union’s 27 nations convened in Brussels to discuss the European response to the fallout of the war.

Kallas said the bloc was focusing on “diplomatic outreach” instead. “Nobody wants to go actively in this war, and of course, everybody is concerned what will be the outcome,” she said.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has expressed the same sentiment. “This is not our war. We did not start it,” Pistorius told reporters Monday, adding that there would be “no military participation” from his nation.

Read more here.

European leaders are pushing back against President Trump’s call to deploy warships to open the Strait of Hormuz, a vital chokepoint for the world’s oil supply, as they try to keep some distance from the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. https://t.co/GRrGksemin

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 17, 2026

UPDATE ON THE HORMUZ COALITION (Mon, March 16):

🇫🇷 France: REJECTED
🇬🇧 UK: REJECTED
🇮🇹 Italy: REJECTED
🇪🇸 Spain: REJECTED
🇯🇵 Japan: REJECTED
🇳🇴 Norway: REJECTED
🇨🇦 Canada: REJECTED
🇦🇺 Australia: REJECTED
🇩🇪 Germany: REJECTED
🇨🇳 China: NO RESPONSE
🇳🇱 Netherlands: NO RESPONSE
🇰🇷 South Korea: NO CONFIRMATION

— News Eye (@newseye.bsky.social) March 16, 2026 at 2:01 AM

Then today, during a press opp in the Oval Office, Trump declared “we don’t need any help.”

Q: What progress have you made in getting America’s allies to assist the US in escorting those oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz?

TRUMP: Well, we don’t need too much help. We don’t need any help, actually. In fact we just put out a notice.

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) March 17, 2026 at 8:56 AM