Trump and Rubio Float Exit From NATO: ‘Paper Tiger’

President Donald Trump is floating an exit from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, calling the transatlantic alliance a “paper tiger” as European powers refuse to enter the conflict with Iran. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also declaring a need to “reexamine” the U.S.-NATO relationship.

Asked by The Telegraph in an interview published Wednesday if he is reconsidering America’s NATO membership, Trump replied, “Oh yes, I would say [it’s] beyond reconsideration. I was never swayed by NATO.”

He added, “I always knew they were a paper tiger, and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin knows that too, by the way.”

The United States has been a NATO member since 1949, when then-President Harry Truman and the Senate approved the treaty.

In 2023, then-President Joe Biden signed an annual defense spending bill into law that included provisions blocking the president from unilaterally withdrawing from a treaty. 

No European nation has directly supported the United States military’s action against Iran.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who leads a NATO member state, has denied the United States the use of Spanish airspace and joint military bases for the conflict.

Other powers have provided assistance to the United States while shying away from direct participation in kinetic strikes.

United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said the U.K. will “take action to defend ourselves and our allies” but “will not be drawn into the wider war.”

The U.K. has accommodated U.S. forces at joint military bases.

Starmer said on Wednesday in reaction to Trump’s remarks, “NATO is the single most effective military alliance the world has ever seen, and it has kept us safe for many decades, and we are fully committed to NATO.”

Rubio also weighed a reconsideration of NATO in a Tuesday interview on Fox.

“If now we have reached the point that we can’t use those [European] bases … then NATO is a one-way street; then NATO is simply about us having troops in Europe to defend Europe,” said Rubio. 

If “when we need them to allow us to use their military bases, their answer is ‘no,’ then why are we in NATO?” Rubio asked.

He added, “Unfortunately, after this conflict is concluded, we are going to have to reexamine that relationship. We’re going to have to reexamine the value of NATO.”