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US President Donald Trump has raised the possibility of withdrawing from NATO, as tensions deepen between Washington and its allies over their refusal to support military action against Iran.
The issue was expected to feature prominently during a closed-door meeting at the White House with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, held shortly after a fragile two-week ceasefire was agreed between the United States and Iran.
According to the White House, Trump intends to confront what he views as a lack of burden-sharing by NATO members during the conflict, a stance that has unsettled the 77-year-old transatlantic alliance.
“It is quite disheartening that NATO has turned its back on the American people over the past six weeks, even though it is the American people who have funded their defence.”,” AFP cited White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt saying.
When asked whether Trump would discuss a potential withdrawal from NATO, she added: “That is something the President has talked about, and I think it is also something the President will be discussing in the next couple of hours with Secretary-General Rutte.”
Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister often described as adept at managing relations with the US leader, entered the West Wing discreetly for the high-level talks, which were conducted in private.
Trump has voiced growing anger at Western allies for declining to join his campaign against Iran, criticising NATO as a “paper tiger” for failing to take the lead in securing the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz and for limiting the use of military bases by US forces.
His frustration has extended to individual leaders. The US president reportedly derided British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as “not Winston Churchill” and dismissed the United Kingdom’s aircraft carriers as “toys”.
In response to what it sees as insufficient support, the Trump administration is considering redeploying US troops away from certain NATO countries and repositioning them in states viewed as more aligned with Washington’s stance on Iran, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
However, the proposal stops short of a full withdrawal from NATO, a step Trump has previously floated but which would require approval from the US Congress.
The developments underscore a widening divide within the alliance at a time of heightened geopolitical uncertainty, with the future cohesion of NATO increasingly called into question. - April 9, 2026