The Western Alliance was already fraying long before the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran began earlier this month. But the collective refusal of European leaders to even entertain the idea of assisting the U.S. in keeping the Strait of Hormuz open – and their personal insults against President Donald Trump – may have fractured the relationship beyond repair.
As Iranian forces continue to attack shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint through which 20-30 percent of all global crude oil flows, President Trump has called on European nations to form an international coalition to help reopen the strait. But the response from European leaders has been silence in some cases and outright defiance in others.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has refused to send warships to the region and stated that Britain will not be drawn into a “wider war,” along with refusing to allow U.S. forces to use British bases for offensive strikes. Germany also refused any military involvement, stating, “this is not our war, we have not started it.” French President Emmanuel Macron likewise declined to send assistance to help reopen the strait. Even Italy, under the leadership of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni – widely considered a Trump ally – has stated that it will not get involved.
During a meeting with Ireland’s taoiseach in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump expressed his frustration at NATO member states for refusing to devote resources to the military effort, particularly reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
“I think NATO is making a very foolish mistake,” Trump said. “And I’ve long said that I wonder whether or not NATO would ever be there for us. So, this was a great test, because we don’t need them, but they should have been there.”
Trump has every reason to be upset – and the American people should be too.
Once again, Europe is smugly pretending as if it has no dog in this fight. Once again, European governments are acting as if their very existence is not built upon American tax dollars, safeguarded by the American military, and propped up by the American economy.
Starmer and his European counterparts appear to miss the critical threat that the Strait of Hormuz being closed poses to their economies. Because oil is a global market, the supply crunch is driving up fuel costs in the United States. But thanks to President Trump, there is no risk of shortages. America is energy independent, and we produce all the fuel we need here at home.
The same cannot be said for Europe, which relies on oil from the Middle East. U.S. efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz are thus ultimately benefitting European nations the most. Despite this fact, Britain recalled its last minesweeper from the Gulf region just days before the U.S. strikes began.
European leaders suggesting that Iran is “not their fight” only adds insult to injury. Was it America’s fight when U.S. taxpayers funded the Marshall Plan to stop the march of communism and save Germany from becoming a Soviet puppet state? Was it America’s fight when Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act and shipped military aid to Britain when it was under siege by Nazi Germany?
Perhaps NATO member states don’t think it’s justified to risk the lives of their own citizens for this conflict. Fine. But flatly refusing to assist at all and then publicly defying President Trump is not the respect Americans deserve from their allies.
Moreover, as Trump has correctly pointed out many times, American taxpayers have effectively subsidized the European welfare state for the better part of a century through defense spending. American troops and air power kept the Soviet Union and later Russia at bay.
What the world is now witnessing may not be just another tiff between longtime allies. It may be the beginning of a permanent breakup of the Western Alliance. The rift that has emerged in recent years goes beyond merely disagreement over foreign policy and into deeper issues of culture and values. Europe, which gave rise to free-market capitalism, modern democracy, and the Enlightenment ideas that formed the seeds of the American Revolution, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, has now largely abandoned those principles. European governments censor their own citizens and imprison anyone who speaks out while sabotaging their own economies in pursuit of ever-more bloated welfare regimes.
Meanwhile, even as birth rates for native-born Europeans collapse, migrants continue to pour in and destroy native European cultures. Muhammed is now the most popular baby name in England and Wales. Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, is a first-generation Brit whose parents moved there from Pakistan. Islam is by far the fastest growing religion in Europe.
The political realities of this demographic shift could well be at play in Europe’s refusal to assist the United States now. The rapid Islamization of the European population means that European governments may suddenly be more hesitant to move against Islamic nations – even the world’s leading state sponsor of terror.
If it is indeed the case that we are witnessing the decline of the alliance that won World War II, defeated the Soviet Union, and built the modern world, it would be bad for the United States, but even worse for Europe. Whatever the outcome, Europeans will have no one to blame but themselves.
Shane Harris is the Editor-in-Chief of AMAC Newsline. You can follow him on X @shaneharris513.
