US President Donald Trump speaks with reporters aboard Air Force One. AFP
In the early days of the Iran conflict, Trump had said US navy vessels would escort oil tankers through the strait of Hormuz, and downplayed the threat posed by Iran. But as oil prices soared, he and his administration have been forced to consider new options — including the idea, broached this weekend, for other countries to join the push with their own warships. So far, none has yet formally heeded the call.
In an interview Sunday with the Financial Times, Trump warned that NATO faces a "very bad" future if US allies fail to help open the Strait of Hormuz.
He said that as the United States has aided Ukraine in the war with Russia, he expects Europe to help on the strategic strait , whose closure has sent energy prices soaring around the world.
"If there's no response or if it's a negative response I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO," said Trump, who over the years has criticized the alliance as freeloading on US largesse.
Trump also said an upcoming summit in Beijing with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping could be delayed as he presses for China's help to open the strait.
He noted that China's reliance on oil from the Middle East means it ought to help with a new coalition he is trying to put together to get oil tanker traffic moving through the strait after Iran’s threats have throttled global flows of oil.
Trump said “we'd like to know” before the trip whether Beijing will help. "We may delay,” Trump said in the interview.
Asked about specific help he was looking for, Trump told the FT he wanted minesweepers as well as "people who are going to knock out some bad actors that are along the (Iranian) shore."
The uncertainty underscores just how much the US-Israeli strikes on Iran have reshaped global politics in the past two weeks. Calling off the face-to-face visit with Chinese President Xi Jinping could have its own major economic consequences: Relations between Washington and Beijing have been fraught as both sides have threatened the other with steep tariffs over the past year.
In Beijing, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said only that China and the U.S. have maintained communication on Trump's visit. “Head-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable strategic guiding role in China-U.S. relations,” Lin Jian said at a daily briefing.
Lin did not respond directly to questions about Trump’s call for outside help in the strait. He noted the impact on goods and energy trade and repeated his government's call for an end to the fighting.
"China once again calls on all parties to stop military actions immediately, avoid further escalation of tensions, and prevent instability in the region from having a greater impact on global economic development,” he said.
This came as US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on Monday in Paris for a new round of trade talks that were meant to pave the way for Trump’s Beijing trip. The U.S. and China have declared a truce that has prevented both sides from levying dueling tariffs, but the stakes remain high
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