Donald Trump has lashed out at his ‘non-responsive’ NATO allies as he claimed they would ‘move into gear fast’ if he ‘finished off Iran’ before handing the Strait of Hormuz to them. 

Tension between the US President and Europe has been growing in recent days after a number of leaders, including Sir Keir Starmer, snubbed his demand for a ‘joint effort’ to unblock the channel, through which about 20 per cent of global oil flows.

The EU told Mr Trump and Iran to stop their war ‘so that everybody saves face’, while Emmanuel Macron insisted France would not send its navy to help escort ships through the strait.

Sir Keir also said the UK would not ‘send ships’ to protect oil tankers from Iranian attacks. 

Trump reacted with a furious post on Truth Social, hitting back at NATO, calling the alliance a ‘one way street’ and declaring ‘we no longer ‘need,’ or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance — WE NEVER DID!’ 

In a further post on Wednesday, the US President wrote: ‘I wonder what would happen if we ‘finished off’ what’s left of the Iranian Terror State, and let the Countries that use it, we don’t, be responsible for the so called ‘Straight?’ 

‘That would get some of our non-responsive ‘Allies’ in gear, and fast!!!’

Donald Trump has lashed out at his ‘non-responsive’ NATO allies as he claimed they would ‘move into gear fast’ if the ‘finished off Iran’

The US President asked allies to join a mission to safeguard shipping in the Gulf but was snubbed by Sir Keir Starmer, who said the UK would not ‘send ships’ to protect oil tankers from Iranian attacks 

Mr Trump accused NATO members of making a ‘foolish mistake’ by refusing to help the US navy the strait.

The president is desperately trying to open the strait as the Iranian regime’s ongoing closure causes a spike in oil prices and sparks fears of a global economic crisis. 

In angry remarks at the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump insisted that ‘we don’t need any help’ from NATO.

‘But they should’ve been there,’ he added. 

He attacked Sir Keir, claiming the war has been a ‘great test’ of special relationship which he said was ‘always the best’ until the Labour premier ‘came along’. 

He also claimed that Sir Keir is ‘no Churchill’ – pointing to a sculpture of Britain’s wartime premier on the table behind him. 

Mr Trump on Tuesday also swiped at Emmanuel Macron – saying the French President would be ‘out of office very soon’ – after Paris flatly rejected the US demand for help reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz. 

As he vented in the Oval Office during a media call with Irish PM Micheal Martin, Mr Trump again claimed that Sir Keir offered to send two aircraft carriers to the Middle East. This is something the UK denies. 

Earlier, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said ‘it would be in the interest of everybody if this war stops’, adding: ‘The problem with wars is that it’s easier to start than to stop them, and it always gets out of hand.’

‘We have been consulting with regional countries like the Gulf countries, Jordan, Egypt, (about) whether we could also bring forward proposals for Iran, Israel and the US to get out of this situation so that everybody saves face,’ she said.

Kallas said the door was not closed to European participation in efforts to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz but it would be most likely to come as part of a diplomatic solution.

The former prime minister of Estonia added that Europe did not understand some of the United States’ actions under Trump or its objectives in Iran but had become used to his unpredictability and was ‘more calm’ in its responses. 

NATO countries have rounded on Trump after he demanded their support to reopen the key transit point for oil and gas, as they continue to refuse to be further drawn into the war with Tehran.

Germany, Italy, Greece and Australia also refused to take part in efforts to reopen the important waterway – which normally channels more than 20million barrels of oil and LNG per day.

Following the collective refusal of his allies, Trump wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday: ‘The United States has been informed by most of our NATO ‘Allies’ that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon.’ 

He continued: ‘I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need.’

Mr Trump yesterday launched a broadside at Sir Keir, claiming he was ‘not happy’ with him and the UK’s approach to the conflict has been ‘terrible’.

But Finland’s President Alexander Stubb rushed to the Prime Minister’s defence, saying he admires Sir Keir’s ability to ‘stay calm’.

Asked whether Nato allies, including Finland, should join the US, Stubb said they had Russia ‘to take care of’.

He told the BBC: ‘This was a surprise attack, so none of us knew about it and that’s why probably there’s been reluctance and a little pushback.

‘We have our own backyard to take care of, a 1,340 km of border with Russia… We wouldn’t have much to give. We don’t have bases, these kinds of things to give. What I think I’d like to see now is more peace mediation rather than an escalation of the situation.’

Meanwhile, the EU said ‘nobody’ is willing to put troops in ‘harm’s way’ over the waterway.

The price of oil has risen rapidly following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz

​Kallas previously said: ‘Nobody ​is ready to ​put their people in harm’s way ‌in ⁠the Strait of Hormuz. We have to find diplomatic ways to keep ​this ​open ⁠so that we don’t have a food ​crisis, fertilizers crisis, ​energy ⁠crisis as well.’

She added the EU is ready to invest in relations with the US, ‘but it takes two to tango’.

It echoed comments from Germany, who claimed it is ‘not our war’.

The country’s Defence Minister Boris Pistorius rejected Trump’s demands and downplayed threats that such a stance by allies would hurt Nato.

‘What does (…) Donald Trump expect a handful or two handfuls of European frigates to do in the Strait of Hormuz that the powerful US navy cannot do?’ he said in Berlin.

‘This is not our war, we have not started it.’

Asked about Trump’s warning that Nato faces a ‘very bad’ future if its members fail to come to Washington’s aid, Pistorius said he did not anticipate Nato to fall apart over these differences.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz said: ‘There was never a joint decision on whether to intervene. That is why the question of how Germany might contribute militarily does not arise. We will not do so.’

He added: ‘This Iranian regime must come to an end,’ but ‘based on all the experience we have gained in previous years and decades, bombing it into submission is, in all likelihood, not the right approach.’