U.S. considers withdrawal from NATO; Iran denies requesting a ceasefire

NATO countries are responding after Trump threatened to pull the U.S. out of the alliance.

Finnish President Alexander Stubbs said on X that he had a “constructive discussion and exchange of ideas” with Trump about NATO, adding: “Problems are there to be solved, pragmatically.”

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said any threat to remove the U.S. from the alliance is “harmful,” while Lithuania’s defense minister, Robertas Kaunas, told NBC News that its partnership with the U.S. “has been, is and will remain a strategic priority.”

Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said on X: “It is not a ‘paper tiger’ — it is the most successful military alliance in modern history, and Donald Trump’s threat to pull the United States out of NATO is reckless, dangerous, and plays directly into the hands of our adversaries.”

Asked about Trump’s comments at a news conference earlier, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that NATO was the “single most effective military alliance the world has ever seen” and that he would prioritize the U.K.’s interests “whatever the pressure on me and others, whatever the noise.”

In his comments earlier, Trump criticized NATO for what he considers its lack of support for U.S. objectives in Iran. He told Reuters that he is “absolutely” considering an attempt to withdraw the U.S. from the organization.

“They haven’t been friends when we needed them,” Trump said. “We’ve never asked them for much. … It’s a one-way street.”

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., slammed the threat as “reckless” and said such a move would “weaken America.”

“Let’s remember that NATO was invoked for the first and only time after the attacks of Sept. 11th, when our allies came to our defense. Thousands of allied troops served alongside American forces in Afghanistan, and many paid the ultimate price. To now suggest that this alliance is a one-way street is not only wrong — it’s an insult to those sacrifices,” he said.

Warner vowed that Congress would not let Trump “unravel an alliance that has kept Americans safe for decades.”

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