Trump demands allies — and even enemies — join his unlawful war

US president Donald Trump has attacked NATO and demanded US allies — and even its enemies — join his failing war.

Trump told the Financial Times on Sunday he’d been lobbying several countries to help unblock the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of the world’s oil passes.

It’s reported he has appealed to the UK, France, Japan, South Korea, and China, bizarrely saying it’s “only appropriate” that “beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there”.

If there’s no response or if it’s a negative response I think it will be very bad for the future of Nato.

Trump increasingly looks like a man crumbling under severe pressure. There is a strong sense the US-Israeli attack is failing by the hour and with every passing day, US imperial credibility declines.

Trump frustration over strait closure

Much to Trump’s ire, Iran has predictably blocked the Strait of Hormuz on 2 March in response to unprovoked attacks from the US and Israel.

Iran was offering unprecedented concessions in negotiations at the time of the first strike on 28 February. The Pentagon has since stated there was no imminent threat from Iran while the UN’s atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has said there is no evidence Iran was developing a nuclear weapon.

The US might have finally waded into an oil catastrophe it can't handle, as Iran is able to throttle a massive 20% of the world's oil

By @jjgjourno https://t.co/S4WjF2vEao

— Canary (@TheCanaryUK) March 13, 2026

Spiralling failure

China is a major buyer of oil that passes through the strait. According to the US Energy Information Administration, 84% of crude oil and 83% of liquefied natural gas that moved through the Strait of Hormuz went to the Asian markets in 2024.

Russia also has major interests in the region. International relations scholar John Mearsheimer told Al Jazeera that spiraling American failure was good for both:

Russians actually look like a winner in this conflict. And I think the same thing is true with the Chinese. This will increase Chinese influence in the Middle East. It will influence Chinese around the world. They will look like a stable and reasonable regime compared to the Trump administration.

Bad for NATO

Increasingly, the US is looking isolated on the global stage, and Trump’s pleas for support are at odds with his previous position.

Trump has often criticised NATO and told the Financial Times:

We have a thing called Nato. We’ve been very sweet. We didn’t have to help them with Ukraine. Ukraine is thousands of miles away from us . . . But we helped them.

He added:

Now we’ll see if they help us. Because I’ve long said that we’ll be there for them but they won’t be there for us. And I’m not sure that they’d be there.

Although Trump doesn’t seem optimistic NATO will help, the president still hoped that allies would offer minesweeping ships or perhaps special forces “to knock out some bad actors that are along the [Iranian] shore”.

Trump again insisted the US was winning and tried to infer the action in the strait was just a mopping up exercise:

We’re hitting them very hard. They’ve got nothing left but to make a little trouble in the Strait but these people are beneficiaries and they ought to help us police it. We’ll help them. But they should also be there. You sort of need a lot of people to watch over a few.

Strain is evident. Trump was seen snapping at a reporter aboard Air Force One when he was asked why 5,000 marines were being sent to the region on 16 March:

Reporter: Can you explain why you’re sending 5000 marines and sailors?

Trump: You’re a very obnoxious person. pic.twitter.com/0SExSBUWHK

— Acyn (@Acyn) March 16, 2026

The president also took a particular swipe at the UK in his FT interview:

The UK might be considered the number one ally, the longest serving et cetera and when I asked for them to come, they didn’t want to come.

In reality, the UK has been a vital part of the war, allowing US bombers to pass through British bases on their way to attack Iran.

A weak-minded US administration has blundered into a major regional war, apparently largely at the behest of Israel. There seems to be no coherent plan for how to avoid getting bogged down in a quagmire.

Trump’s call for wavering allies — and even enemies — to help him out of the mess he has created seems impossibly optimistic, especially in the case of China, which has much to gain from another US failure.

Featured image by the Canary