A furious Donald Trump has lashed out at his NATO allies amid the spiralling oil crisis, bluntly telling nations hit hardest to “go grab it” themselves. The explosive remarks come as tensions over the Iran war deepen, with Trump reportedly weighing a dramatic break from the alliance after European powers refused to step into what has become an increasingly costly and destabilising conflict.
In an address to the nation on Wednesday, Trump provided little new information but suggested the war may still rage on for weeks as past suggestions of “negotiations” with Tehran were replaced with new threats.
Additionally, Trump continued in his bitter war of words against members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) who he has condemned for failing to support his war on Iran.
“There’s no country like us anywhere in the world, and we’re in great shape for the future. The United States imports almost no oil through the Hormuz Strait, and won’t be taking any in the future. We don’t need it. We haven’t needed it, and we don’t need it. And the countries of the world that do receive oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage. They must cherish it. They must grab it and cherish it.
“They can do it easily. We will be helpful, but they should take the lead in protecting the oil that they so desperately depend on. So, to those countries that can’t get fuel, many of which refuse to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, we had to do it ourselves.”
Trump had wanted European powers, including the UK, to send naval ships to support the US in protecting vital shipping in the Persian Gulf amid the war. However, NATO members have remained reluctant to support Trump’s war in any capacity except purely defensively – much to Trump’s deep frustration.
Trump recently insulted NATO members, calling them “cowards” and a “paper tiger.”
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In an interview with The Telegraph, Donald Trump said: “I was never swayed by NATO. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and (Russian President) Putin knows that too, by the way.”
Earlier this week, Trump seemed eager to calm traders’ fears, promising that an end to this conflict was in sight, and sending Brent Crude briefly below $100 a barrel.
However, Wednesday’s speech seems to have done the opposite. On Thursday Brent Crude is back up over $107.
But importantly there was nothing in the speech indicating how progress towards peace might be made, or how the Strait of Hormuz, the route for a large proportion of the world’s energy supply, would be reopened, beyond suggesting he doesn’t see it as America’s problem.
Trump is still talking about an end to the conflict within a few weeks.
But after the last month of rhetorical flip-flopping oil traders will need a bit more convincing than that.
New intense threats
Iran and the US has traded fresh threats of massive new attacks after Trump warned of “extremely hard” hits planned over the coming weeks against the Islamic Republic.
In his address on Wednesday, President Trump threatened to bomb Iran back “to the Stone Ages” if it did not agree to a deal meeting Washington’s conditions to end the war, now in its fifth week.
The phrase is generally understood to mean carpet bombing, aimed at decimating a country in a manner that none of the infrastructure of modern civilisation — hospitals, schools, universities, industry, businesses, hotels, skyscrapers or parks — remain standing.
Such an act, were it to be pursued — as the United States’s ally Israel has done in Gaza — the US’ actions would likely be seen as genocidal, even under international law.
The head of the Iranian army has told his soldiers to prepare to counter any method of US attack, including by ground troops.
“No enemy troops should survive if adversaries attempt a ground operation,” said commander-in-chief Amir Hatami, according to state media.
He said the Iranian military’s operational headquarters must monitor “enemy movements with utmost pessimism and accuracy.”
Despite Washington’s repeated claims that Iran is essentially militarily defeated, Iran’s forces have continued to launch major missile and drone strikes across the region with numbers of projectiles numbering in the hundreds each week.
Israel has taken major hits while Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, and Qatar have also been heavily targeted by Iranian missiles. Iran has pledged to keep on fighting until their demands are met. Tehran has refused to back down over its control of the Strait, and will not negotiate on any change in how the Strait is policed.
Tensions with the UK
During his speech, Trump suggested the strait could open “automatically” when the conflict ends. Other nations in Europe are not so sure.
Leaders of 35 countries recently signed a joint statement in which they said they were willing to contribute to “appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.”
Many of their foreign ministers will take part in a “virtual summit” around lunchtime today. The remit is to discuss “viable diplomatic and political” solutions to reopen the route.
Given Iran says it remains closed to “enemies of the nation” it’s not surprising that Keir Starmer said yesterday this would not be an easy task.
While the UK, France, Germany, Australia, and Gulf states are likely virtual attendees at the summit, crucially the US is not.
Trump has taken major aim at the UK when dishing out insults this month, mocking the Royal Navy on several occasions claiming: “you don’t even have a navy, you’re too old and had aircraft carriers that didn’t work.”
Trump has also referred to the UK’s naval ships as “toys.”
The verbal insults come amid a deepening rift between the UK and US over No.10’s refusal to enter into the Israel-instigated war on Iran.
It is clear that Europe believes the war was a mistake and are now desperate to see a deescalation of tensions and oil to start flowing through the strait again but with the conflict dragging on fears are mounting of serious shortages and a rising economic crisis causing serious harm the Europe.
