President Donald Trump raged Tuesday after France became the second European nation to ban American warplanes from using its airspace during the war with Iran.
Trump also told NATO partners who are standing aside from efforts to keep oil flowing to find some courage and fight for themselves, because he will no longer do it.
Spain, which had earlier banned the U.S. from using its bases in Spain to launch airstrikes against Iran, has also blocked American military plans from using its airspace to fly missions related to the war, as noted by Newsweek.
Italy also got into the act by banning some U.S. bombers from landing at a base on Sicily.
“The Country of France wouldn’t let planes headed to Israel, loaded up with military supplies, fly over French territory,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “France has been VERY UNHELPFUL with respect to the ‘Butcher of Iran,’ who has been successfully eliminated! The U.S.A. will REMEMBER!!! President DJT.”
“All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you.
“Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT.
“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil! President DJT,” Trump wrote.
No detail was available early Tuesday on the incident Trump referenced, according to The Washington Post.
On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the obstruction of American allies “very disappointing,” according to comments posted by the State Department.
“I think it was very disappointing. You have this – and again, look, the President and our country will have to reexamine all of this after this operation is over,” Rubio said.
“But one of the reasons why NATO is beneficial to the United States is it gives us basing rights for contingencies. It allows us to station troops and aircraft and weapons in parts of the world that we wouldn’t normally have bases, and that includes in much of Europe.”
“And to see that in a time of need – the United States has identified a grave risk to our national security and our national interest, and we needed to conduct this operation, and we have countries like Spain, a NATO member that we are pledged to defend, denying us the use of their airspace and bragging about it, denying us the use of our – of their bases. And there are other countries that have done that as well,” he said.
“I’ve been a big supporter of NATO and one of the reasons why I’ve been a supporter of NATO is because I believe that these basing rights give us leverage and give us flexibility in operational capability all over the world.”
Rubio then argued that if NATO purpose is only for the U.S. to defend European nations when they are in need, but not the other way around, then that arrangement is wanting.
He then noted that, if that is the case going forward, the U.S. relationship with NATO will be “reexamined.”
“The United States is – without the United States, there is no NATO. I mean, everyone recognizes that, including NATO. If we decided tomorrow that we were going to remove our troops from Europe, that would be the end of NATO,” Rubio said.
“At the end of the day it’s very simple. NATO is an alliance, and an alliance means it has to be mutually beneficial. It cannot be a one-way street. Let’s hope we can fix it. We’ll have time to address it after. Right now we’re focused on this operation.”
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