Will the US leave NATO?

Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump intensified his criticism of NATO, stating that he had not received the support he expected from its allies in the ongoing war with Iran. Trump described NATO as a “paper tiger” and indicated that the United States could withdraw from the alliance. He criticized Europe for not taking enough responsibility, particularly regarding the Strait of Hormuz, saying that while the U.S. has been responsible for Europe’s security, NATO has failed to protect the U.S. Trump’s anti-NATO rhetoric is nothing new. Since his first term, he has viewed NATO as a costly organization and consistently advocated for increased defense spending by European allies. In this context, during his first term, he emphasized that NATO allies should allocate at least 2% of their gross domestic product to defense. In his second term, he has set a much more ambitious target of increasing this rate to 5%. Trump’s increasingly frequent and harsh rhetoric has unsettled other NATO members and has paved the way for the long-debated strategic autonomy approach to gain strength.