US President Donald Trump vented his frustration with NATO during a private meeting with its secretary-general, Mark Rutte, on Wednesday as relations in the military alliance reached a crisis point over the Iran war.
"He is clearly disappointed with many NATO allies, and I can see his point," Rutte said on CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper," after spending more than two hours at the White House. "This was a very frank, very open discussion, but also a discussion between two good friends."
Rutte spoke hours after White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt quoted Trump as saying of NATO: "They were tested, and they failed," during the Iran war.
Several NATO countries resisted supporting the US military campaign against Iran by denying US military planes use of their airspace or declining to send naval forces to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz for energy tankers.
Without specifying the countries, Rutte said his own view was that "some" NATO countries had failed to live up to their commitments in the Iran operation but that "the large majority of Europeans" had been helpful.
The White House did not disclose details of the talks. Trump posted on social media after the meeting in capitalised letters that, "NATO wasn't there when we needed them, and they won't be there if we need them again."
Trump has repeatedly called NATO a "paper tiger" and threatened to withdraw from the 32-member transatlantic alliance in recent weeks, arguing that Washington's European allies have relied on US security guarantees while providing inadequate support for the US-Israeli bombing campaign in Iran.
Although Trump said on Tuesday the attacks on Iran would be paused under a two-week ceasefire, the fallout from the conflict has continued to strain ties between Washington and its allies, suggesting the diplomatic consequences may linger longer.
Leavitt on Wednesday said that NATO countries had, "turned their backs on the American people," who fund their nations' defence, and that Trump would have a "very frank and candid conversation" with the NATO chief.
Trump has called for countries that depend on oil from the gulf region to break Iran's chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, but European countries are unlikely to join mine-clearing or other missions to free up navigation as long as hostilities continue, according to two European diplomats.
Rutte, known in Europe as a "Trump whisperer," has cultivated a warm relationship with Trump despite the tensions and referred to the president last year as a "daddy" handling a schoolyard brawl between Israel and Iran. Another European diplomat described Rutte's approach to Trump as deferential but effective.
Conflict over Iran has worsened transatlantic anxieties over Ukraine, Greenland and military spending, although senior US officials have privately reassured European governments that the administration remains committed to NATO, according to one of the two European officials, who was involved in such conversations.
"This is a dangerous point for the transatlantic alliance," said Oana Lungescu, a former NATO spokesperson now at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank.
A NATO official said Rutte, while at the White House, would seek to increase defence-industry cooperation and to discuss the wars in Iran and Ukraine.
NATO is a defensive alliance focused on North America and Europe, and it's not clear precisely what role Trump expected it to play in the Middle East.
"I expect he will keep up the dialogue on Ukraine and burden-shifting within NATO," another senior European diplomat said, adding that the former Dutch politician has said alliance members "should lean into opening Hormuz" after a ceasefire.
Trump also spoke with Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday, the French president said in a post on social media.
NATO, which includes European countries, the US and Canada, was formed in 1949 to counter the risk of Soviet attack and has been the cornerstone of the West's security ever since.
Trump's focus on the Middle East has also further threatened to divert US weapons from Ukraine, whose defence is a major priority for most of NATO's European members.
"He has been disappointed by NATO and other allies' unwillingness to be helpful throughout Operation Epic Fury, even though his effort to destroy the threat posed by Iran is to their benefit," said White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly.
"As he said, the United States will remember."
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington and Lili Bayer in Brussels; Additional reporting by John Irish and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Andy Sullivan, Colleen Jenkins and Cynthia Osterman)