Donald Trump will discuss quitting NATO as he meets with the alliance’s Secretary General on Wednesday over its failure to support his war in Iran.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters: ‘I have a direct quote from the President of the United States on NATO, and I will share it with all of you: “They were tested and they failed.”
‘And I would add, it’s quite sad that NATO turned their backs on the American people over the course of the last six weeks, when it’s the American people who have been funding their defense.’
Trump is preparing to discuss quitting the 32-member bloc when he meets NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, having repeatedly demanded allies send warships to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Leavitt told reporters: ‘Withdrawing from NATO… is something that the President will be discussing in a couple of hours with [Rutte] and perhaps you’ll hear directly from the President following that meeting.’
The White House also hit out at claims from Iran that the Strait of Hormuz had been closed over Israeli attacks on the regime’s proxy terror groups in Lebanon.
‘We have seen an uptick of traffic in the strait today,’ Leavitt said, noting that there was a difference between what Iran said publicly versus privately.
Two tankers were allowed through the strait this morning as the two-week ceasefire commenced, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported, though it later said passage had been suspended ‘simultaneous with Israel’s attacks on Lebanon.’
Leavitt added that ‘Lebanon is not part of the ceasefire.’
Iran also threatened to destroy oil tankers if they try to travel through the Strait without permission, as the regime has imposed a toll of up to $2 million per vessel.
Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline, a critical artery routing crude from the Gulf to the Red Sea, came under drone attack at 1pm local time, the FT reported.
Kuwait’s air defenses intercepted 28 drones in sustained attacks targeting oil facilities, power plants and water desalination infrastructure from 8am Wednesday, the country’s army said, adding that strikes were still ongoing.
There were also reports of explosions rocking Tehran, which Leavitt declined to comment on, pending information from Trump’s national security team.
Vice President JD Vance, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to visit Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, for a first round of peace talks on Saturday, Leavitt revealed.
She also confirmed that there were discussions between the US and China at the very ‘top levels’ of government after a reporter asked about Beijing’s involvement in the ceasefire.
Beijing urged Tehran to make a deal with Washington, alarmed by the economic turmoil inflicted by the war, three Iranian officials told the New York Times last night.
Trump is facing a furious backlash from his most fervent supporters over the ceasefire and ten-point peace plan, amid fears it concedes too much to Tehran, with even the White House forced to clarify his claims about the terms of the deal.
Iran publicly released what it claimed was the ten-point plan, demanding the US accept Tehran’s continued control over the Strait, recognize its right to uranium enrichment, lift all sanctions, pay compensation and withdraw all troops from the region.
Trump described the points as ‘a workable basis on which to negotiate,’ only for a White House official to say they did not match what the President had in mind.
The President then appeared to contradict his own team, saying most points had ‘been fully negotiated’ while leaving the door open to resuming strikes if the deal fell apart.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham demanded JD Vance appear before Congress to explain the terms of the agreement after the dovish Vice President spearheaded 11th-hour peace talks mediated by Pakistan.
‘The supposed negotiating document, in my view, has some troubling aspects, but time will tell,’ Graham posted on X.
‘I look forward to the architects of this proposal, the Vice President and others, coming forward to Congress and explaining how a negotiated deal meets our national security objectives in Iran.’
Republican Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska said Trump had secured ‘significant victories’ but expressed skepticism over the peace talks and the President’s claims of ‘total victory.’
‘The government’s still in place and we should be negotiating from a position of strength, not a position that’s good for them,’ he told CNN.
‘They will work with Russia and China as soon as they can to start rebuilding their military. And they will be a threat five, six, seven, eight years down the road. And so, as long as this government’s in place, total victory has not been earned.’
Laura Loomer, a pro-Israel Trump ally, predicted the ceasefire ‘will fail.’
‘The negotiation is a negative for our country. We didn’t really get anything out of it and the terrorists in Iran are celebrating,’ she wrote on X. ‘I don’t know why people are acting like this is a win.’
Mark Levin, another pro-Israel commentator with close ties to Trump, said that while he trusts the President’s ‘instincts,’ the Iranians could not be trusted.
‘This enemy is still the enemy; they’re still surviving,’ he said of Iran.
Trump called the deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz a ‘joint venture’ and also promised that the US was working with Iran to dismantle its uranium enrichment capacity.
The President wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday: ‘There will be no enrichment of uranium, and the United States will, working with Iran, dig up and remove all of the deeply buried (B-2 bombers) nuclear “dust.”‘
The safety of the uranium was confirmed before an 11th-hour deal was struck, the White House said.
‘Nothing has been touched from the date of attack,’ Trump said, claiming that the nuclear site has been watched closely since it was bombed.
It is not clear whether Trump was referring to the US bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities in June, or to more recent strikes during the current Iran war.
Trump said that tariff and sanctions relief were being discussed as part of a peace plan with ‘many’ points already agreed.
Iran has already begun outlining a scheme to rake in billions from the Strait of Hormuz.
The exact terms remain unsettled, but ships must notify intermediary companies linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of their cargo, destination and owner, with tolls of at least $1 per barrel payable in Chinese yuan or cryptocurrency.
Trump welcomed the idea, telling ABC: ‘We’re thinking of doing it as a joint venture. It’s a way of securing it – also securing it from lots of other people.
‘It’s a beautiful thing.’
The Strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil flows, has been dubbed the ‘Tehran Tollbooth’ by analysts and traders.
The average bill for a single tanker runs to $2 million – and only once payment clears will IRGC patrol boats escort the vessel through the ‘tollbooth.’
Some analysts believe the scheme could net Iran as much as $500 billion over five years.
Oil prices plunged on Wednesday, even as the Strait remained throttled. Brent crude – the global benchmark – fell by 13 percent to $95 per barrel after hitting $118 at the peak of the conflict.
Hamid Hosseini, a spokesman for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union, said cargo checks were necessary to prevent the transport of weaponry.
‘Iran needs to monitor what goes in and out of the strait to ensure these two weeks aren’t used for transferring weapons,’ Hosseini, whose industry association has close ties to the regime, told the FT.
‘Everything can pass through, but the procedure will take time for each vessel, and Iran is not in a rush,’ he added.
Hosseini’s comments indicate vessels must hug the northerly Iranian coast of the Strait, a prospect that will raise alarm among maritime insurers.
Tankers in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday received a radio alert warning that they would be targeted if they did not first gain transit approval from Iranian authorities.
‘If any vessels try to transit without permission, [they] will be destroyed,’ said the broadcast in English.
Western shipping giants scrambled to establish whether the Strait was truly operational again.
Maersk, the world’s second-largest shipping line, said it was ‘working with urgency’ to clarify the terms.
‘The ceasefire may create transit opportunities, but it does not yet provide full maritime certainty,’ it said, adding that it was maintaining a ‘cautious approach’ and would not immediately change any routes.
If Iran keeps its grip on the Strait, it will raise explosive questions for OPEC+, the oil producers’ cartel, and redraw the balance of power in the region.
Saudi Arabia, one of the group’s most powerful members, would regard Iranian control of the waterway as intolerable. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had urged Trump to crush the Iranian regime before the ceasefire.
Ali Shihabi, a commentator close to the Saudi royal court, told the FT: ‘Allowing Iran any form of control over the strait would be a red line. The priority has to be unimpeded access through the strait.’
