Miami.- The President of the United States, Donald Trump, asserted this Friday that Saudi Arabia and other of its “allies” in the Middle East such as Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have “done more” in the war against Iran than NATO, with which he is “very disappointed”.
“I want to thank the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it has helped a lot. Unlike NATO, Saudi Arabia fought, Qatar fought, Bahrain fought, and Kuwait fought, although they shot down three of our planes,” the president declared at the FII Priority forum, organized by Saudi investors in Miami.
Trump reiterated his criticism of NATO, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany for refusing to get involved or delaying support for the United States in the war against Iran, which has been going on for four weeks, so he warned that he would not have helped Ukraine in the war against Russia if he had been president when it broke out in 2022.
The Republican leader indicated that this type of conflict shows “who your friends are.”
Praise for Turkey and Arab Allies
“I am very disappointed with NATO, but I was not disappointed with our allies in the Middle East, and others, and others. We had tremendous support from countries that are not in the general area, but they supported tremendously. I think Turkey (a member of the Atlantic Alliance) was fantastic,” he pointed out.
Trump’s statements contrast with those of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who on Thursday acknowledged the “frustration” of the American leader at the slow response of the allies after his call for support to protect maritime transit in the Strait of Hormuz, now blocked by Iran.
Rutte highlighted that there are about thirty countries already willing to discuss their possible help, as well as justifying that the United States did not consult its allies before launching the offensive against Tehran “for important reasons, to ensure that no one knew what would happen that Saturday morning”.
«I am very disappointed with NATO, they didn’t come to help, I didn’t try too hard, in fact, because I wanted to prove a point. I didn’t sell (the war). They probably think I’m a terrible salesman,» Trump stated now.
The leader also called “friend” to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, who has pressured Trump to continue the war against Iran by arguing that it is a “historic opportunity”, as reported this week by the New York Times.
