War in the Middle East: Europeans have received loud and clear Donald Trumps message on defense, says NATO chief

European leaders got the message of frustration from Donald Trump about Iran loud and clear, said NATO chief Mark Rutte on Monday, May 4, following the sudden announcement of the withdrawal of US soldiers from Germany. “The United States was somewhat disappointed by the European reaction to the current situation in the Middle East,” said the Secretary-General of the Alliance upon his arrival at a summit in Armenia.

“I would say that, according to all my contacts among European leaders, they have understood the message from the United States, they got it loud and clear, and are stepping up their efforts on this issue,” he stated.

Thrown off by Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw 5,000 US troops from Germany, Europeans also pledged to accelerate the strengthening of their defense capabilities. The timing of Donald Trump’s announcement of this withdrawal was “a surprise,” even if this decision in itself was expected, underlined EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas.

“I think this shows that we really need to strengthen the European pillar of NATO, and we really need to do more,” she added on the sidelines of a European political community summit in Yerevan. “Europeans are taking their destiny into their own hands, increasing their defense and security spending, and building their common solutions,” echoed French President Emmanuel Macron.

Donald Trump accuses several European partners of refusing any military or logistical contribution to Washington’s operations in the Strait of Hormuz against Iran. He notably stated last week that he was considering reducing American forces stationed in Germany after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that “Americans evidently had no strategy” in Iran.