{"id":316103,"date":"2026-04-09T22:19:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T16:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=316103"},"modified":"2026-04-09T22:19:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T16:49:33","slug":"nato-chief-says-he-understands-trumps-disappointment-with-allies-on-iran-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/09\/nato-chief-says-he-understands-trumps-disappointment-with-allies-on-iran-national\/","title":{"rendered":"NATO chief says he understands Trump\u2019s \u2018disappointment\u2019 with allies on Iran &#8211; National"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Thursday he understood U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cdisappointment\u201d within the alliance for not immediately helping him together with his war with Iran, but additionally backed Trump\u2019s decision to not inform allies ahead of time.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on the Ronald Reagan Institute in Washington a day after meeting with Trump privately to debate the president\u2019s criticisms, Rutte expressed support for U.S. military actions in Iran while acknowledging Trump\u2019s frustration with the alliance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen it got here time to offer the logistical and other support the USA needed in Iran, some allies were a bit slow, to say the least,\u201d Rutte said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn fairness, there have been also a bit surprised. To keep up the element of surprise for the initial strikes, President Trump opted not to tell allies ahead of time, and I understand that.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-ad c-ad--bigbox l-article__ad\">\n<p>Story continues below commercial<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>He further explained later: \u201cThere was not a variety of prior consultation. So then they&#8217;d to scramble to grasp what was happening after which to step up.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"l-article__part\" data-shortcode=\"tp_video\">\n<div class=\"c-video c-videoPlay \" data-iframe-receiver=\"\" data-autoplay=\"\" data-displayinline-featured=\"false\" data-displayinline-type=\"video\" data-displayinline-player-id=\"miniplayer_11769956_69d7d811206c9\" data-displayinline-video-id=\"11769956\" data-displayinline-ratio=\"16:9\" data-displayinline=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/video\/embed\/11769956\/#autoplay&#038;stickyiframe=miniplayer_11769956_69d7d811206c9\" data-displayinline-sticky=\"true\" data-permutive-data='{\"content\":{\"name\":\"Trump will hold Iran accountable for keeping Strait of Hormuz open, White House says\",\"type\":\"video\",\"sections\":[\"videos\",\"national\"],\"keywords\":[\"ceasefire\",\"international\",\"iran\",\"short-clip\",\"strait-of-hormuz\",\"top-news\",\"trump\"],\"iab\":{\"categories\":[\"Law and Government\/Government\",\"Law and Government\",\"News\",\"News\/Politics\"],\"tags\":[\"Afghanistan\",\"Canada\",\"Codependency\",\"Disappointment\",\"Donald Trump\",\"Europe\",\"Frustration\",\"Indo-Pacific\",\"Iran\",\"Israel\",\"Karoline Leavitt\",\"Keir Starmer\",\"Knot\",\"Marco Rubio\",\"Mark Carney\",\"Mark Rutte\",\"Member states of NATO\",\"Middle East\",\"Military budget\",\"Military campaign\",\"NATO\",\"Obituary\",\"Prime Minister of the United Kingdom\",\"Ronald Reagan\",\"Secretary General of NATO\",\"Strait of Hormuz\",\"United Kingdom\",\"United States\",\"Washington, D.C.\",\"White House\",\"White House Press Secretary\"]}}}'>\n<div class=\"c-video__inner \">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__placeholder\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-video__image\" alt=\"Click to play video: 'Trump will hold Iran accountable for keeping Strait of Hormuz open, White House says'\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/media.globalnews.ca\/videostatic\/news\/o8tltofty1-8dbfi4lq0x\/WHITE_HOUSE_SITE_thumbnail_1280x720_.jpg?w=1040&#038;quality=70&#038;strip=all\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"\" sizes=\"auto, \" data-sizes=\"(min-width: 1040px) 1040px,(min-width: 720px) 720px,450px\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__overlay\"><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<time class=\"c-video__duration\">3:13<\/time><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__title\">Trump will hold Iran accountable for keeping Strait of Hormuz open, White House says<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Prime Minister Mark Carney and other NATO leaders have suggested they didn&#8217;t join the U.S. and Israeli military campaign against Iran because they weren&#8217;t consulted ahead of time.<\/p>\n<p>Several European allies have since provided logistical support for U.S. military assets within the Middle East, and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is leading international efforts to secure the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-inlineSignup\" data-newsletter-inline=\"\">\n<div class=\"c-inlineSignup__image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"170\" height=\"225\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/wp-content\/themes\/shaw-globalnews\/images\/skyline\/national.jpg\" alt=\"Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won't miss a trending story.\">\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"c-inlineSignup__content\">\n<h2 class=\"c-inlineSignup__title\">Get breaking National news<\/h2>\n<p>Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox because it happens so you will not miss a trending story.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Rutte said this support is evidence of a \u201cmindset shift\u201d he said is crucial to accompany Europe\u2019s move away from \u201cunhealthy codependence\u201d on American security \u201cto a transatlantic alliance grounded in true partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He did beat back on U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio\u2019s statement that NATO can&#8217;t be \u201ca one-way street,\u201d nonetheless.<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-ad c-ad--bigbox l-article__ad\">\n<p>Story continues below commercial<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cIt was not a one-way alliance when U.S., European and Canadian troops fought and sacrificed shoulder-to-shoulder in Afghanistan,\u201d Rutte said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd I&#8217;m heartened by the knowledge that day-after-day as I speak, that U.S., European and Canadian troops proceed to coach and deploy in support of our shared security. I&#8217;m confident that a stronger Europe and a stronger NATO is not going to take U.S. leadership without any consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"l-article__part\" data-shortcode=\"tp_video\">\n<div class=\"c-video c-videoPlay \" data-iframe-receiver=\"\" data-autoplay=\"\" data-displayinline-featured=\"false\" data-displayinline-type=\"video\" data-displayinline-player-id=\"miniplayer_11753899_69d7d81120c66\" data-displayinline-video-id=\"11753899\" data-displayinline-ratio=\"16:9\" data-displayinline=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/video\/embed\/11753899\/#autoplay&#038;stickyiframe=miniplayer_11753899_69d7d81120c66\" data-displayinline-sticky=\"true\" data-permutive-data=\"{\"content\":{\"name\":\"'This was a was a war of choice': Trump pushes for NATO and European allies to open Strait of Hormuz\",\"type\":\"video\",\"sections\":[\"videos\",\"national\",\"politics\"],\"keywords\":[\"iran\",\"iran-war\",\"short-clip\",\"strait-of-hormuz\",\"trump\",\"us-iran-war\"],\"iab\":{\"categories\":[\"Law and Government\/Government\",\"Law and Government\",\"News\",\"News\/Politics\"],\"tags\":[\"Afghanistan\",\"Canada\",\"Codependency\",\"Disappointment\",\"Donald Trump\",\"Europe\",\"Frustration\",\"Indo-Pacific\",\"Iran\",\"Israel\",\"Karoline Leavitt\",\"Keir Starmer\",\"Knot\",\"Marco Rubio\",\"Mark Carney\",\"Mark Rutte\",\"Member states of NATO\",\"Middle East\",\"Military budget\",\"Military campaign\",\"NATO\",\"Obituary\",\"Prime Minister of the United Kingdom\",\"Ronald Reagan\",\"Secretary General of NATO\",\"Strait of Hormuz\",\"United Kingdom\",\"United States\",\"Washington, D.C.\",\"White House\",\"White House Press Secretary\"]}}}\">\n<div class=\"c-video__inner \">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__placeholder\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-video__image\" alt=\"Click to play video: '\u2018This was a was a war of choice\u2019: Trump pushes for NATO and European allies to open Strait of Hormuz'\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/media.globalnews.ca\/videostatic\/news\/uc6zzsrebt-ey0raunccj\/Reggie-Thumb.jpg?w=1040&#038;quality=70&#038;strip=all\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"\" sizes=\"auto, \" data-sizes=\"(min-width: 1040px) 1040px,(min-width: 720px) 720px,450px\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__overlay\"><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<time class=\"c-video__duration\">1:52<\/time><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__title\">\u2018This was a was a war of alternative\u2019: Trump pushes for NATO and European allies to open Strait of Hormuz<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Asked in regards to the meeting Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt read out an announcement she said was from Trump, who said the alliance had been \u201ctested and so they failed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s quite sad that NATO turned their backs on the American people over the course of the last six weeks, and it\u2019s the American individuals who have been funding their defence,\u201d Leavitt added.<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-ad c-ad--bigbox l-article__ad\">\n<p>Story continues below commercial<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Rutte said his meeting with Trump on Tuesday was \u201cvery frank and open,\u201d and that he \u201csensed his disappointment in regards to the undeniable fact that he felt that too many allies weren&#8217;t with him.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-tabs\">\n<p>\n\t\t\t<button role=\"tab\" class=\"c-tabs__tab c-tabs__tab--active\" type=\"button\">More on World<\/button><br \/>\n\t\t\t<button role=\"tab\" class=\"c-tabs__tab\" type=\"button\">More videos<\/button>\n\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cI explained to him yesterday, I said, \u2018Hey, Mr. President, clearly the overwhelming majority of Europeans have done what the U.S. asked of them and what was previously agreed in these circumstances,&#8217;\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd yes, sometimes it takes a little bit of time, but hey, guess what? We now have coalitions in Europe. We now have sometimes the political (situation) to deal with, sometimes it takes a few days, but then we pull together. And just about all of Europe did.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"l-article__part\" data-shortcode=\"tp_video\">\n<div class=\"c-video c-videoPlay \" data-iframe-receiver=\"\" data-autoplay=\"\" data-displayinline-featured=\"false\" data-displayinline-type=\"video\" data-displayinline-player-id=\"miniplayer_11748278_69d7d811234a0\" data-displayinline-video-id=\"11748278\" data-displayinline-ratio=\"16:9\" data-displayinline=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/video\/embed\/11748278\/#autoplay&#038;stickyiframe=miniplayer_11748278_69d7d811234a0\" data-displayinline-sticky=\"true\" data-permutive-data='{\"content\":{\"name\":\"Canada meets 2% defence target for 1st time amid shifting NATO priorities\",\"type\":\"video\",\"sections\":[\"videos\",\"national\",\"canada\"],\"keywords\":[\"canada-defence\",\"nato\",\"short-clip\"],\"iab\":{\"categories\":[\"Law and Government\/Government\",\"Law and Government\",\"News\",\"News\/Politics\"],\"tags\":[\"Afghanistan\",\"Canada\",\"Codependency\",\"Disappointment\",\"Donald Trump\",\"Europe\",\"Frustration\",\"Indo-Pacific\",\"Iran\",\"Israel\",\"Karoline Leavitt\",\"Keir Starmer\",\"Knot\",\"Marco Rubio\",\"Mark Carney\",\"Mark Rutte\",\"Member states of NATO\",\"Middle East\",\"Military budget\",\"Military campaign\",\"NATO\",\"Obituary\",\"Prime Minister of the United Kingdom\",\"Ronald Reagan\",\"Secretary General of NATO\",\"Strait of Hormuz\",\"United Kingdom\",\"United States\",\"Washington, D.C.\",\"White House\",\"White House Press Secretary\"]}}}'>\n<div class=\"c-video__inner \">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__placeholder\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-video__image\" alt=\"Click to play video: 'Canada meets 2% defence target for 1st time amid shifting NATO priorities'\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/media.globalnews.ca\/videostatic\/news\/a6azxz91l7-cb8guvmsgf\/GN1_SITE.jpg?w=1040&#038;quality=70&#038;strip=all\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"\" sizes=\"auto, \" data-sizes=\"(min-width: 1040px) 1040px,(min-width: 720px) 720px,450px\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__overlay\"><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<time class=\"c-video__duration\">2:16<\/time><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__title\">Canada meets 2% defence goal for 1st time amid shifting NATO priorities<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Rutte later added: \u201cIt was a very good conversation. It was open and candid, and I clearly felt his disappointment, which again, to a certain extent, I understand.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-ad c-ad--bigbox l-article__ad\">\n<p>Story continues below commercial<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The NATO chief repeatedly refused to directly answer questions from the event moderator and the group about whether he felt Trump might follow through together with his threats to tug the U.S. out of the alliance.<\/p>\n<p>He as an alternative pointed to increased defence spending and the move by European allies to take the lead on their very own security, which he said will allow the U.S. to higher balance its European defence commitments with the growing importance of the Indo-Pacific.<\/p>\n<p>Every NATO member, including Canada, has finally met the alliance\u2019s old goal of spending no less than two per cent of GDP on defence, NATO confirmed earlier this month. NATO agreed last yr to spice up that focus on to 5 per cent by 2035, including 3.5 per cent on \u201ccore\u201d military spending.<\/p>\n<p>This growing strength and commitment, Rutte claimed, ran counter to fears in regards to the survival of the alliance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy, then, does everyone on this room have a knot of their stomach in regards to the way forward for the transatlantic alliance?\u201d he asked. \u201cWhy, once we activate our televisions or are scrolling our phones, will we see eager early drafts of NATO\u2019s obituary?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet me be clear: this alliance isn&#8217;t whistling past the graveyard, as you&#8217;d say in the USA.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\n\t\t&#038;copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Thursday he understood U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cdisappointment\u201d within the alliance for not immediately helping him together with his war with Iran, but additionally backed Trump\u2019s decision to not inform allies ahead of time. Speaking on the Ronald Reagan Institute in Washington a day after meeting with Trump privately to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":316104,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20691],"tags":[7921,2655,25743,15256,1903,21609,8711,16004],"class_list":["post-316103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-allies","tag-chief","tag-disappointment","tag-iran","tag-national","tag-nato","tag-trumps","tag-understands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316103"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":316106,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316103\/revisions\/316106"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}