Report: Trump Considering Pulling Out Of NATO

President Trump said Wednesday that he is “absolutely” considering withdrawing the United States from the NATO military alliance and plans to address his concerns in a primetime Oval Office speech focused on the Iran war.

“Oh, absolutely without question. Wouldn’t you do that if you were me?” Trump told Reuters reporter Steve Holland when asked whether he was weighing an exit from the transatlantic alliance.

Trump’s comments followed remarks he made to The Telegraph, where he said NATO’s future is “beyond reconsideration” after European leaders restricted U.S. access to military bases during the monthlong Iran conflict and declined U.S. requests for naval support to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

“I was never swayed ⁠by NATO. I always knew they were a paper ⁠tiger, and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin knows that too, by the way,” he said.

For decades, NATO has been a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy, binding the United States, Canada, and most major European nations to a collective defense agreement against external threats.

During both of his terms, Trump has pressured NATO members to increase defense spending. Last year, he shifted the financial burden of U.S. weapons sent to Ukraine—though not a NATO member—onto allied nations to sustain Kyiv’s resistance against Russian forces.

Any move to withdraw the U.S. from NATO would likely face strong bipartisan opposition. However, unilateral presidential withdrawal from international agreements has become more common, and Trump has previously exited treaties, including those related to climate change and arms control.

In 2023, former President Joe Biden signed legislation coauthored by then-Sen. Marco Rubio—now Trump’s secretary of state—requiring congressional approval before any U.S. withdrawal from NATO. Trump could challenge that law, arguing it unconstitutionally limits presidential authority over military and diplomatic matters, a position his team has taken in other cases.

The Senate originally ratified the NATO treaty in 1949 at the outset of the Cold War, and the alliance has remained a central counterweight to Russia’s influence in Eastern Europe.

NATO members include the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, and Turkey. The alliance expanded eastward after the Cold War, adding Poland in 1999 and Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in 2004, bringing NATO to Russia’s borders.

Tensions between the U.S. and its allies have intensified over the Iran conflict. Spain barred U.S. use of the jointly operated Rota naval base and Morón air base last month and, on Monday, closed its airspace to American warplanes.

The United Kingdom “took far too much time” to approve U.S. use of its air bases and the Diego Garcia facility in the Indian Ocean, Trump said last month.

Italy also denied U.S. military aircraft permission to land at its Sigonella air base in Sicily on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Germany criticized Trump for launching strikes against Iran without consulting NATO partners, and French President Emmanuel Macron stated, “France will never take part in operations to open or liberate the Strait of Hormuz.”