Trump clashes with Nato countries over refusal to help reopen Strait of Hormuz Submitted by Yasmine El-Sabawi on Mon, 03/16/2026 - 17:45 The US president has been pleading with international powers to step in, but has so far been rebuffed by major western allies US President Donald Trump speaks during a lunch with the Kennedy Center board members in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on 16 March 2026 (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) Off President Donald Trump has expressed his anger at a lack of help from Nato countries cooperating with the US to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway through which more than 20 percent of the world's crude oil is normally transported.  On Monday, he announced that "numerous countries have told me they're on the way", without naming any publicly. "Some are very enthusiastic about it, and some countries that we've helped for many, many years, we've protected them from horrible outside sources, and they weren't that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm matters to me," he said. Experts have warned that escorting tankers or undertaking any mission in the strait would be a "very dangerous mission". European leaders in particular have made it clear they do not want to risk moves that would drag them into the wider war with Iran - particularly as they view the US-Israeli attacks on the Islamic Republic as illegal and without a United Nations mandate in the first place. Germany, France and the UK are among the countries that have already rejected getting involved. Trump said he was "surprised" and "not happy" with the UK, in particular. Trump also suggested that because the US funds the bulk of Nato, and has also been funding the bulk of Ukraine's defences against Russia, Brussels owes Washington. "You can ask [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. Putin fears us. He has no fear of Europe whatsoever," Trump said.  When asked by a reporter whether he had discussed the matter with French Presiden