WASHINGTON — President Trump started his Friday with a broadside against NATO members who have declined to help make the Strait of Hormuz safe for shipping traffic.
“Without the U.S.A., NATO IS A PAPER TIGER!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “They didn’t want to join the fight to stop a nuclear-powered Iran.
“Now that fight is Militarily WON, with very little danger for them, they complain about the high oil prices they are forced to pay, but don’t want to help open the Strait of Hormuz, a simple military maneuver that is the single reason for the high oil prices.
“So easy for them to do, with so little risk. COWARDS, and we will REMEMBER!”
Iran has effectively closed the crucial waterway — responsible for a fifth of the world’s oil exports — since Trump launched the joint US-Israeli attack on the country on Feb. 28.
After many major allies balked at helping with ship escorts, the leaders of the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, and Canada issued a vague joint statement Thursday offering some assistance.
“We express our readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait,” the nations said. “We welcome the commitment of nations who are engaging in preparatory planning.”
Trump initially floated offering US naval escorts to vessels and attempted to entice them to make the risky voyage with a new $20 billion reinsurance program, but found few takers — as Iran attacks tankers in other parts of the Persian Gulf.
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Thursday that the US is deploying new aircraft to help break through the bottleneck by weakening Iran’s military threat to ships.
Low-flying A-10 Thunderbolt II jets are “hunting and killing fast-attack watercraft in the Straits of Hormuz,” Caine said at the Pentagon
“In addition, AH-64 Apaches have joined the fight on the southern flank… and that includes some of our allies who are using Apaches to handle one-way attack drones.”
The Strait’s closure has caused a dramatic jump in global fuel prices — with Brent crude remaining above $100 per barrel on Friday — up from around $70 a month ago.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told Trump Thursday in the Oval Office that “the global economy is now about to experience a huge hit because of these developments.”
Trump has deployed a Marine Corps expeditionary group that’s expected to arrive in the region by the end of the month, offering additional military options.
