President Trump on Monday disparaged U.S. allies that he said had relied too long — and too expensively — on American defense, as several of those countries have declined to meet his call to send warships to escort merchant vessels in and out of the Persian Gulf.
“We don’t need anybody; we’re the strongest nation in the world,” Mr. Trump said. He suggested his request for assistance in reopening the Strait of Hormuz instead amounted to a loyalty test of America’s allies. “I’m almost doing it in some cases not because we need them but because I want to find out how they react,” he said.
Referring to countries that have rebuffed, or reacted coolly, to his appeal for ships, Mr. Trump said he had long believed that “if we ever needed help, they won’t be there for us,” and they were proving his point. He added, “You mean for 40 years we’re protecting you and you don’t want to get involved in something that’s very minor?” noting that Europe, Japan and others depend on oil from the Persian Gulf far more than the United States does.
Even so, Mr. Trump said that “numerous countries have told me that they’re on the way.” But asked to name them, he replied, “I’d rather not say yet, but we’ll be announcing them.”
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