Trump slams NATO over lax participation in Iran war in talk with Mark Rutte

Trump slams NATO over lax participation in Iran war in talk with Mark Rutte

Sitting across from Rutte in the White House's Oval Office, Trump reiterated his frustration that members of the NATO alliance did not join in the war effort.

"We didn't need help on this at all. We demolished them in literally the first week," Trump said of Iran. "But it would have been nice if they would have said, 'We'd like to help.' We didn't even need it, but it would have been nice if they said that."

"If anybody else were in that position, we wouldn't even be meeting today, to be honest with you, because we were let down," Trump said, referring to his disappointment with the NATO alliance. Trump praised Rutte at Wednesday's meeting as a "great guy, great leader, great secretary-general."

Rutte opened the Oval Office appearance by displaying a series of charts showing increased defence spending by NATO members. He also praised the US attacks on Iran, calling Trump the "leader of the free world."

Despite Rutte's claims, there is no evidence that Iran was on the verge of obtaining nuclear weapons when the US and Israel launched their attacks on February 28, triggering the war.

While no NATO ally committed military forces to the conflict, Rutte on Wednesday tried to advance the argument that they had helped in other ways. The NATO chief pointed approvingly to the central role that European military bases played in the war.

"When you look at the numbers, four to five thousand US planes taking off from bases in Europe in the six weeks this war took place," Rutte said. "I know there have been isolated cases about which you are really disappointed, but generally speaking, your European allies have been there."

"I do agree there's reason for disappointment, absolutely. But my argument is this: These are isolated cases," Rutte said. Trump did not appear moved by the argument.