US allies reject Trump's call for help in Strait of Hormuz - CNN

[TexasTowelie]

President Donald Trump bemoaned American allies who have rebuffed his demands to send warships to help escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, saying they were insufficiently loyal to the US after receiving security support for decades.

Trump has tried cajoling other nations into helping secure passage of oil tankers through the contested waterway, but so far US allies have either been non-committal or have outright rejected his demands.

Japanese leader Sanae Takaichi told parliament today that the country is not currently planning to dispatch warships to the strait. A German government spokesperson said this morning that “this war has nothing to do with NATO. It is not NATO’s war.” Though it wasn’t asked by Trump to send vessels to the Strait of Hormuz, Australia’s transportation minister said today that her country will not be sending ships to the waterway.

0:00 President Trump speaks about countries that are unwilling to answer his call for help policing the Strait of Hormuz
1:21 CNN White House correspondent has the latest on Trump’s pressure campaign to get international help in the Strait of Hormuz
3:52 NATO members' responses to Trump's call
5:33 Former Pentagon official reacts to Trump’s Iran tactics
8:23 Retired general says he thinks several NATO countries will eventually agree to help

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. MaddowBlog-After alienating allies and declaring victory, Trump 'demands' foreign help in war

Foreign countries haven’t exactly rushed to answer the American president’s call for assistance. Imagine that.

So to sum up:
1. Trump alienates/insults allies
2. he launches an unnecessary war with no international legitimacy
3. he declares war “over,” dismisses need for allies’ help
4. he sees the war go sideways
5. he “demands” allies help us solve a problem he said doesn’t exist
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-03-16T13:42:17.264Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/after-alienating-allies-and-declaring-victory-trump-demands-foreign-help-in-war

During the first week of the war in Iran, multiple British news outlets reported that the HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier was preparing for possible deployment to the Middle East to assist the United States and Israel. Seven days into the conflict, however, Donald Trump, who has a habit of insulting and alienating our closest allies, used his social media platform to deliver a message to leaders in the U.K.: Don’t bother.

“The United Kingdom, our once Great Ally, maybe the Greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East,” the American president wrote. “That’s OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don’t need them any longer — But we will remember. We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!”...

After claiming in an NBC News interview that unnamed countries had already committed to helping secure the strait — a dubious assertion, given the circumstances and available information — the Republican “demanded” that foreign nations step up and provide the U.S. with the kind of security assistance he recently said was unnecessary.

Trump on Strait of Hormuz: "Really, I'm demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory, because it is their territory ... they should help us. You could make the case that maybe we shouldn't be there at all, because we don't need it. We have a lot of oil."

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-03-16T01:05:29.715Z

.....Indeed, the series of events seems preposterous. After spending the last year alienating U.S. allies, Trump launched an unnecessary war with no international legitimacy. He then prematurely declared victory, while simultaneously dismissing the need for international assistance, all while characterizing the Strait of Hormuz as a problem that’s already been solved.

It was at this point that the same American president, without explanation, turned on a dime and started demanding assistance from the same countries he’s insulted to address a problem he’s claimed doesn’t exist.

Foreign countries haven’t exactly rushed to answer Trump’s call for help, and Australian and Chinese officials have already rejected U.S. outreach. Imagine that.