American President Donald Trump once again threatened to withdraw the United States from NATO and ridiculed Washington’s main European ally, the United Kingdom, saying that it “doesn’t even have a Navy”.
The statements were made in an interview with the British newspaper The Telegraph, which asked whether the Republican president was still considering leaving the Western military alliance, as he had expressed before.
“Ah, yes, I would say that is beyond reconsideration. I was never fooled by NATO. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and [o ditador russo, Vladimir] Putin also knows this, by the way”, he said.
Trump has expressed frustration with NATO allies for not having so far helped reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a passage that was almost completely closed by Iran after the conflict with the US and Israel began on February 28. About 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) transited through Hormuz before the war.
The American president stated that aid from allies should have been “automatic”, as the United States did in the war in Ukraine – a country that is not part of NATO, but which has received aid from the alliance since the beginning of the Russian invasion, in February 2022.
“Ukraine wasn’t our problem. It was a test, and we were there to help them, and we would always be there to help them. They didn’t come to help us,” Trump pointed out.
The Republican told the Telegraph that “you [britânicos] They don’t even have a Navy.” “You’re very old and you had aircraft carriers that didn’t work,” he said.
When asked whether Labor Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government should increase defense investment, Trump disagreed.
“I’m not going to tell him what to do. He can do whatever he wants. It doesn’t matter. All Starmer wants are expensive wind turbines that are driving energy prices through the roof,” he charged.
This Wednesday (1st), at a press conference in London, Starmer claimed that the United Kingdom is “fully committed” to NATO and that, “regardless of the pressure on me and others, regardless of the noise, I will act in the British national interest in every decision I make”.
“This is why I have been absolutely clear: this war [no Irã] It is not ours and we will not get involved in it. But I am also very clear that, on matters of defence, security and our economic future, we must strengthen ties with Europe,” said the Prime Minister.
Starmer said on Wednesday that the UK would organize a meeting with international leaders to “assess all viable diplomatic and political measures” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
A report commissioned by the UK Parliament, published in the March/April 2025 edition of the specialist magazine Warship World, showed that the British Royal Navy (RN), once the most powerful naval military force in the world, has been surpassed by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).
According to the report, the JMSDF at the time had 150 ships, a staff of 50,800 members and 346 aircraft. The RN had 79 ships, 31,900 members and 160 aircraft.
“The last RN escort (frigate/destroyer) to be delivered was to Duncan, in 2013. Between 2013 and 2024, the JMSDF received 12 destroyers and frigates. The RN has 14 escorts in service. The JMSDF has 46”, highlighted the report, signed by specialist Christopher Cope.
