President Donald Trump on Monday sharply criticized U.S. allies for what he called a lukewarm response to his appeal for help protecting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz amid the U.S. war with Iran, saying he wants partner nations to join “quickly and with great enthusiasm.” Speaking at a White House event, Trump said the level of enthusiasm from other countries “matters to me,” and indicated several unnamed states had agreed to help secure the vital oil chokepoint while chastising others for hesitation.
Trump singled out France and Britain as likely to participate, offering only partial praise for French President Emmanuel Macron — “On a scale of zero to 10, I’d say he’s been an eight,” Trump said — and predicting Britain would be involved, though perhaps reluctantly. He was far harsher toward British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, lamenting, “For 40 years, we’re protecting you, and you don’t want to get involved,” and saying the UK should act “enthusiastically.” Starmer has said London is working with allies on a “viable” plan to reopen the waterway but has ruled out a NATO mission.
NATO and other Western partners pushed back earlier Monday against Trump’s weekend demand that the alliance lead an effort to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which the article says Iran has effectively closed. Trump made the remarks during extended comments at a meeting with the hand-picked board of Washington’s Kennedy Center, which he has renamed after himself.
On Iran, Trump dismissed Tehran as a “paper tiger” after two weeks of joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes and said Washington remained uncertain about who it could negotiate with in Tehran. Asked about the condition of Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, Trump said, “We don’t know… if he’s dead or not,” repeating unconfirmed reports that Khamenei may be badly disfigured or have lost a leg while noting that others say he is dead.
The remarks, including direct appeals for greater allied participation and blunt assessments of Iran’s leadership, underscore growing tensions over control of a strategic shipping route and the limits of allied coordination in the unfolding conflict.
Original Source: https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/trump-pushes-for-enthusiasm-from-us-allies-to-secure-strait-of-hormuz-11224821#publisher=newsstand
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Publish Date: 2026-03-16 23:51:00
