Donald Trump has called America’s NATO allies “cowards” for not involving themselves in the war in Iran.
The president lashed out in an angry post on his Truth Social account.
“Without the USA, NATO IS A PAPER TIGER!” he wrote.
“They didn’t want to join the fight to stop a Nuclear Powered Iran. Now that fight is Militarily WON, with very little danger for them, they complain about the high oil prices they are forced to pay, but don’t want to help open the Strait of Hormuz, a simple military maneuver that is the single reason for the high oil prices.
“So easy for them to do, with so little risk. COWARDS, and we will REMEMBER!”
NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, is an alliance involving the US, Canada, and most countries in Europe.
Trump’s outburst marks another turnaround for the president, who said on Wednesday that the US didn’t need the help of other countries.
“Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer ‘need,’ or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance,” he said on his social media site.
“WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea.”
And on Tuesday he said unnamed countries were “coming already” to support the US in the Middle East.
The US is now deploying more warships and another 2500 Marines in the region.
The president also brushed off the importance of the Strait of Hormuz.
“We don’t use the strait, the United States, we don’t need it,” Trump said.
“At a certain point, it’ll open itself.”
While the US sources most of its oil domestically, 20 per cent of the world’s oil is shipped through the strait.
That includes a substantial amount of oil used in Australia.
Overnight Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei issued a statement praising the Iranian people’s steadfastness.
“The enemy has been defeated,” Khamenei said.
“(Iranians have) dealt him a dizzying blow so that he now starts uttering contradictory words and nonsense.”
Meanwhile, US Central Command has confirmed that 232 American service members have been injured since the war began three weeks ago.
Of those, ten are seriously wounded, and 207 have been able to return to duty.