{"id":22314,"date":"2026-03-16T20:41:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T20:41:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/22314\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T20:41:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T20:41:06","slug":"trump-calls-on-allies-to-help-guard-the-strait-of-hormuz-most-have-refused","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/22314\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump calls on allies to help guard the Strait of Hormuz. Most have refused"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON\u00a0\u2014\u00a0President Trump expressed frustration Monday that U.S. allies were not enthusiastic about sending warships<\/a> to protect merchant vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, a sign of Washington\u2019s growing isolation as it tries to stabilize one of the world\u2019s most critical shipping lanes amid its war against Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Trump declined to name the \u201cnumerous countries\u201d he said had agreed to help reopen the oil route, which has come under the threat of retaliation from Iran, but was annoyed that most longtime allies were hesitant about joining his international police force. He said they should be \u201cjumping to help us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSome countries that we have helped for many, many years, we\u2019ve protected them from horrible outside sources and they weren\u2019t that enthusiastic \u2014 and the level of enthusiasm, it matters to me,\u201d Trump said at the White House.<\/p>\n

For Trump, securing allies\u2019 help is as much a domestic economic need as it is international diplomacy. Since the hostilities against Iran began on Feb. 28<\/a>, Tehran has retaliated by targeting regional oil facilities and at least 20 vessels operating in and around the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman. <\/p>\n

The result has been \u201cthe largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market,\u201d according to the International Energy Agency, and it has led to international oil prices surging more than 30% to over $100 a barrel as the war entered its third week with no clear end in sight.<\/p>\n

The diplomatic friction, meanwhile, reflects the limits of Trump\u2019s influence at a moment when the global economy is absorbing one of the worst oil supply shocks in modern history, a dynamic that has prompted Trump to warn that countries refusing to help may find Washington a far less generous partner in turn.<\/p>\n

Despite Trump demands, several key allies have publicly rebuffed his calls for support. <\/p>\n

French President Emmanuel Macron formally rejected the request, saying that France would maintain a \u201cdefensive and protective\u201d posture focused on stability rather than escalation.<\/p>\n

German Foreign Minister Boris Pistorius was blunter, saying \u201cthis is not our war; we didn\u2019t start it.\u201d<\/p>\n

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also declined to commit, saying the U.K. \u201cwill not be drawn into the wider war.\u201d Italy Spain, Australia and Japan similarly declined, while South Korea and China have not publicly stated their intentions.<\/p>\n

The rejections seems to have only sharpened Trump\u2019s demands. At one point during an event on Monday, the president turned to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and said he would share a list of nations that declined to help, suggesting Congress could have a role in any retaliatory measures against reluctant allies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are we protecting countries that don\u2019t protect us?\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

Yet Trump also sent conflicting signals about how much allied help he actually needs. At one point he claimed the United States did not require assistance from other countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t need them, but it\u2019s interesting \u2014 I am doing it, in some cases, not because we need them, but because I want to see how they react,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

On the threat to merchant ships, Trump projected uncertainty. He said the possibility of mines was \u201cenough to keep people\u201d from transiting the waterway, but said that \u201cwe don\u2019t even know\u201d if Iran has placed any mines in the strait.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey may have no mines,\u201d he said. \u201cWe hit every one of their mine ships. Every one of them is gone \u2014 but it only takes one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking aboard Air Force One on Sunday<\/a>, Trump also sent mixed messaged about the threats and the need for help. He said the United States was coordinating with roughly seven countries to deploy naval forces to \u201cpolice the straits \u2014 before adding, in the same remarks, that \u201cmaybe we shouldn\u2019t even be there at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

He suggested American forces should not be there because other nations depend more heavily on oil shipments through the oil route, an about-face that drew criticism from allies, who said it created confusion about Washington\u2019s strategy in a conflict the United States had itself started.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s demands have created confusion about Washington\u2019s strategy in a conflict the United States has itself started, and whether his calls for help are a signal that the war may last longer than the Trump administration initially expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo keep the strait open, I have a very hard time believing that China and the other countries the president enlisted are really going to be escorting ships through the strait. That just really doesn\u2019t add up to me,\u201d Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said in an NBC \u201cMeet the Press\u201d interview Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bottom line is, we really don\u2019t know how long this war is going to be,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Trump, however, is keeping the pressure on allied countries, making the future of the conflict more open ended depending on their response.<\/p>\n

Trump insisted Monday that \u201cnumerous countries have told me they are on their way,\u201d but said he would \u201crather not say\u201d who they are.<\/p>\n

He then said the tepid responses from some U.S. allies had reinforce his skepticism about the value of the NATO alliance, echoing comments he made over the weekend when he warned that a failure to assist would be \u201cvery bad for future of NATO\u201d and that the U.S. would \u201cremember\u201d those who did not step up.<\/p>\n

When asked if he was confident Macron will help with the reopening of the strait, Trump told reporters: \u201cYeah, I mean sure. … I think he\u2019s gonna help. I mean I\u2019ll let you know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Europe has nonetheless been drawn deeper into the conflict.<\/p>\n

The U.K. has initially refused to support U.S. military operations, but softened its position after Trump mocked Starmer as \u201cno Winston Churchill\u201d and called Britain a \u201conce great ally.\u201d France also said last week it was preparing a separate \u201cpurely defensive\u201d naval mission to escort commercial vessels through the strait once it was safe to do so. <\/p>\n

Moving forward, it is unclear how the European Union and other nations around the world will respond to Trump\u2019s pressure.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody wants to go actively in this war. And of course, everybody is concerned what will be the outcome,\u201d Kaja Kallas, the European Union\u2019s top diplomat said Monday after a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels. \u201cThis is not Europe\u2019s war, but Europe\u2019s interests are directly at stake.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON\u00a0\u2014\u00a0President Trump expressed frustration Monday that U.S. allies were not enthusiastic about sending warships to protect merchant vessels…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22315,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[10887,177,1555,10888,4205,102,34,1219,101,392,10889,10890,679,51,36,1705],"class_list":{"0":"post-22314","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-strait-of-hormuz","8":"tag-ally","9":"tag-conflict","10":"tag-country","11":"tag-frustration-monday","12":"tag-help","13":"tag-hormuz","14":"tag-iran","15":"tag-strait","16":"tag-strait-of-hormuz","17":"tag-trump","18":"tag-trump-call","19":"tag-trump-demand","20":"tag-u-s-ally","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-war","23":"tag-washington"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116240795861233277","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}