FT: Trump expects European allies to send special forces to Iran
Trump is asking everyone for help in the war against Iran, writes FT. His own forces were absolutely insufficient to destroy the regime in Tehran, so the US president made an unexpected proposal.
Edward Luce
In an interview with the Financial Times, the US president admitted that the summit in China could be postponed.
Donald Trump has warned that NATO faces a "very bleak" future if US allies do not help open the Strait of Hormuz, and issued a direct appeal to European countries to support his military campaign in Iran.
The US president also told The Financial Times in an interview on Sunday that he might postpone his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the end of the month, and demanded that Beijing first help liberate a key waterway.
"It is quite appropriate that the people who use the strait and benefit from it make sure that everything is fine with it," Trump said, stressing that Europe and China are heavily dependent on oil from the Persian Gulf, unlike the United States.
"If there is no response [from the Europeans], or if there is a negative one, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO," he added.
The day before the eight-minute phone conversation with The Financial Times, Trump appealed to China, France, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom to support "joint efforts" and open a channel through which a fifth of the world's oil passes.
Iran effectively closed the strait more than two weeks ago when the United States and Israel began fighting. Immediately, there was a fear of a new spike in oil prices with far-reaching consequences for the global economy. Attempts by the United States to open a key waterway have failed. Global oil prices reached 106 dollars per barrel on Sunday evening, having soared by about 45% since the start of the war.
Despite the dire warning, Trump is pessimistic and doubts that the US allies will listen to his requests for help.
"We have an organization called NATO," said Trump, who has repeatedly criticized the alliance in the past. — We were very kind. We didn't have to help them with Ukraine. Ukraine is actually thousands of kilometers away from us... But we helped them. Now let's see if they can help us. Because I've said for a long time that we'll give them a shoulder, but they won't give us one. And I'm not sure they'll help us this time."
When asked to clarify what kind of help he would be satisfied with, Trump replied: "Any one." He added that the allies should send minesweepers, of which Europe has much more than the United States.
He also needs "people who will deal with the intruders who have settled on the coast of [Iran]." Trump has hinted that he needs European special forces or other military assistance to eliminate Iranians who are "interfering" in the Persian Gulf with drones and naval mines.
"We're hitting them hard," Trump said. — They have no choice but to start a mess in the strait, but these people (Europeans — approx. Others) benefit and should help us take control of the situation. We will help them. But they have to be there. In general, it takes a lot of people to keep some in check."
Trump said he expects China to also help liberate the strait before the summit with Xi Jinping scheduled for the end of the month, his first trip to China in his second term.
"I think China should help too, because it gets 90% of its oil through the strait," Trump said. "It's an unacceptably long wait before the summit," he added.
"We would like to know about this in advance. This (two weeks — approx. In other words) a long time,— Trump said. "We can postpone [the trip]," Trump added, without specifying how long.
The US president's comments came after his Finance Minister Scott Bessant met with his Chinese counterpart He Lifeng in Paris for talks on a summit in Beijing scheduled for the end of March.
Xi Jinping invited Trump to visit China when the two leaders met in South Korea in late October and concluded a truce in the trade and technology war. Beijing, in turn, has shown no desire to postpone the summit, despite the war in Iran, where a significant portion of Chinese oil comes from.
Earlier on Sunday, in a conversation with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump expressed particular disappointment with London's reaction.
"Britain can be considered the number one ally, the oldest, and so on, but when I asked them to help, they didn't want to," he said. "And as soon as we practically eliminated the threat from Iran, they said, 'Well, we'll send a couple of ships,' and I replied: "You know, we actually need them before the victory, not after." I have long said that NATO has become a one-way street."
He assured that the danger to the allies in transferring military assets to the Persian Gulf is minimal, since the United States and Israel have destroyed Iran's military potential over the past two weeks.
"We essentially destroyed Iran,— Trump said. — They no longer have a navy, no air defense, no air force - there is nothing left. The only thing they can do is minor dirty tricks like mines in the water. It's a nuisance, but it can also cause problems."
However, the European allies have already suffered from the war. A French soldier was killed in an Iranian drone strike in Iraq on Thursday. On Sunday, an Italian plane was destroyed at a base in Kuwait.
Trump also warned that the United States is ready to launch new strikes on the island of Kharq, the center of Iran's oil exports, as well as targeting the country's oil infrastructure.
"You saw that yesterday we hit Kharq Island — everything except pipes," he said, referring to the bombing announced on Friday. "We can finish this in five minutes." And they have nothing to oppose us."
When asked whether Russia is helping Iran with satellite data to target American and Israeli missile defense systems, Trump said: "I do not know, maybe yes. On the other hand, we are helping Ukraine to a certain extent. It's hard to complain that you're aiming at us when we're helping Ukraine ourselves."
Trump's predecessor Joe Biden allocated $350 billion worth of military equipment to Ukraine, the president stressed. "That's why it's hard to say, 'God, what are you doing?“when we do the same thing ourselves."
The article was written with the participation of Dmitry Sevastopolo from Washington
