Trump threatens NATO exit, saying he is disgusted with allies

Tensions between the United States and NATO allies flared up as President Donald Trump said he was considering pulling the U.S. out of the Western military alliance due to its European members' refusing to send ships to unblock the Strait of Hormuz. France was among the first European NATO members to react to similar comments by Trump to Britain's Daily Telegraph published earlier in the day, in which Trump called NATO a "paper tiger" and said he was considering exiting the alliance after allies failed to back U.S. military action against Iran. But Julianne Smith, who was former President Joe Biden's ambassador to NATO, said Europe was already spending huge sums of money on its own defense, but it would "probably be the better part of a decade before they can really take on all of the roles and responsibilities that the U.S. is ‌currently providing to the alliance."