Trump signals NATO exit hours before scheduled White House address

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced he is strongly considering withdrawing the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

The decision was made after he was frustrated that allied nations declined to join the U.S.-led war against Iran.

While talking in an interview with The Telegraph published on Wednesday, April 1, Trump called NATO a “paper tiger” and said a U.S. exit was “beyond reconsideration.”

“I was never swayed by NATO. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way,” he added.

This comes after President Trump’s European allies, including the United Kingdom, defied his request to deploy warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz. Trump referred to this request as a “test” that his allies failed.

Trump said: “We’ve been there automatically, including Ukraine. Ukraine wasn’t our problem. It was a test, and we were there for them. They weren’t there for us.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pushed back, reaffirming the U.K.’s commitment to NATO.

Starmer told reporters, “NATO is the single most effective military alliance the world has ever seen. We are fully committed to NATO.”