Donald Trump has spent three days burning through whatever goodwill remained with America’s allies. He has been demanding that NATO partners, China, and other countries send military forces to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. This is the very man who, in the same breath, keeps insisting the United States does not need anyone’s help.
Iran has held the strait effectively hostage ever since the U.S. launched its surprise attack on the country 18 days ago. That war, begun without a clear plan or an endgame in sight, has now shaken the entire global economy to its core. This is not a minor disruption. This is a crisis with no exit ramp.
Hundreds of oil tankers are now stuck in the strait, paralyzed and unable to move. Of the few that have tried to push through, 17 have been attacked by Iranian forces. Iran is letting only select vessels pass, including a Pakistani ship it waved through just yesterday, while its own ships carry oil freely to China.
Iran is not just participating in this standoff. Iran is in total control of it.
Trump has responded by making thinly veiled threats to his allies. He warned NATO nations that failing to help would be a “mistake” for them. Despite the pressure, not a single ally has stepped forward. No one is coming.
French President Emmanuel Macron put out a firm and unambiguous statement: “We are not party to the conflict, and therefore France will never take part in operations to open or liberate the Strait of Hormuz in the current context.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was just as direct: “It is not NATO’s war. NATO is an alliance to defend the alliance area. The United States did not consult us before this war, and so we believe this is not a matter for NATO or the German government.”
Most other allies have made similar statements or simply said nothing at all. Merz is, of course, completely right. Why would any leader who was never consulted before the war began now join a conflict that blindsided the world and put so many nations at financial and strategic risk?
And why would any responsible government stand beside an increasingly erratic Trump and an authoritarian Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? No leader is going to put their own troops in harm’s way for a war they had no say in starting.
It should not be a shock that Trump does not understand why these countries are reluctant. He genuinely believes he is a genius, and that belief leaves no room for self-reflection. He does not seem to remember, or care, that he spent the last year vilifying these same allies and tried to seize Greenland just a few months ago.
The crushing tariffs he imposed on these countries, and the economic chaos he created across Europe and beyond, are also not exactly at the front of his mind now that he wants their military support. That is the nature of a deeply self-centered person. If you treat people poorly, do not be surprised when they leave you standing alone.
Even by Trump’s own standards, the level of delusion here is remarkable. He actually seems to believe these foreign leaders could help him even if they wanted to. His tariffs, his threats of territorial expansion, and his repeated capitulations to Vladimir Putin while throwing Ukraine aside have unleashed massive anti-American anger among voters across Europe, including conservative voters.
In Canada, people are openly wearing T-shirts that read, “Is he dead yet?” Trump’s decision to call Canada the 51st state and hit it with steep tariffs backfired spectacularly, helping Liberal Party leader Mark Carney stage one of the most stunning political comebacks in recent Canadian history to become prime minister. The same fury is burning across Europe over Greenland and Ukraine.
Any leader who actually supported Trump’s war by sending ships to the strait would be committing political suicide. If Trump retaliates by piling on more tariffs or withdrawing support from Ukraine or NATO, he would only make these leaders more popular with their own voters.
That is the most dangerous truth at the heart of this Iran conflict. Trump never once made a public case for this war to the American people. It is the first war in modern U.S. history that a majority of Americans opposed from day one. He does not seem to care, not even about the fractures now visible inside his own MAGA base.
At a recent press conference, Trump said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told him he needed to “meet with my team” before deciding whether to send help.
Trump said he fired back: “You don’t need to meet with your team, You’re the prime minister and You don’t have to meet with your team.”
That single exchange captures everything you need to know about how the United States ended up in this mess, because that is the thinking of a dictator — consult no one, check with no one, and act on impulse alone. That is exactly how this war started, and as White House insiders grow increasingly worried and Trump openly floats the idea of sending in ground troops, there is every reason to believe it will only get worse from here.
