3 min readWashingtonApr 9, 2026 08:25 AM ISTPresident Donald Trump speaks with reporters during the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo)After a meeting with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Mark Rutte, US President Donald Trump criticised the alliance saying they not there when the US needed them. “…and they won’t be there if we need them again.”Ahead of the meeting, Trump suggested that the US may consider leaving NATO after its member countries ignored his call for help when Iran had shut the Strait of Hormuz and sent gas prices rising.He also vented his frustration with NATO during the meeting with Rutte on Wednesday as relations in the military alliance reached a crisis point over the Iran war.“He is clearly disappointed with many NATO allies, and I can see his point,” Rutte told CNN after spending more than two hours at the White House. “This was a very frank, very open discussion, but also a discussion between two good friends.”Rutte spoke hours after White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt quoted Trump as saying of NATO: “They were tested, and they failed,” during the Iran war.The White House did not disclose details of the talks.Several NATO countries opposed the US military campaign against Iran by denying their airspace to US military planes or declining to send naval forces to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz for energy tankers.Story continues below this adTrump has repeatedly called NATO a “paper tiger” and threatened to withdraw from the 32-member transatlantic alliance in recent weeks, arguing that Washington’s European allies have relied on U.S. security guarantees while providing inadequate support for the U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign in Iran. Although Trump said on Tuesday the attacks on Iran would be paused under a two-week ceasefire, the fallout from the conflict has continued to strain ties between Washington and its allies, suggesting the diplomatic consequences may linger longer.Leavitt on Wednesday said that NATO countries had “turned their backs on the American people,” who fund their nations’ defense, and that Trump would have a “very frank and candid conversation” with the NATO chief.Without naming the countries, Rutte said his own view was that only “some” NATO countries had failed to live up to their commitments in the Iran operation but “the large majority of Europeans” had been helpful.— with inputs from Reuters, AP and CNNStay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© IE Online Media Services Pvt LtdTags:donald trump