Key US allies in Europe and beyond have ruled out sending warships to the strait of Hormuz, despite threats from Donald Trump that Nato faces “a very bad future” if members fail to help reopen the vital waterway.
The UK, Germany, France and Italy, along with Australia and Japan, have said they had no plans to send warships.
The US president wants countries to help police the strait after Iran responded to US-Israeli attacks by using drones, missiles and mines to in effect close the channel for tankers that usually transport a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas.
At a press conference on Monday, Trump repeated his call on allies to help reopen shipping in the strait, saying “some are very enthusiastic about it and some aren’t”. He reiterated he was “not happy with the UK”, but he thought it would be involved.
Secretary of state Marco Rubio is expected to announce the names of the countries willing to aid the United States.
European ministers have said they need to know more about the US’s and Israel’s war aims. The Estonian foreign minister, Margus Tsahkna, said US allies in Europe wanted to understand Trump’s “strategic goals. What will be the plan?”
European countries reject Trump’s call for help to reopen strait of Hormuz
European politicians have emphasised diplomatic efforts to reopen the strait, which carried about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquified fossil gas until its effective closure by Iran.
Trump draws backlash for comment on Iran war: ‘Maybe we shouldn’t even be there’
Donald Trump drew a backlash on Sunday for suggesting US efforts to protect the Strait of Hormuz were unnecessary – and that “maybe we shouldn’t even be there at all” because his country has plenty of oil of its own.
The president made the contradictory comment to reporters on Air Force One after pleading with European and Nato allies to enter the war in Iran to help the US secure the strait amid the largest oil supply disruption in history.
“Really, I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory – because it is their territory,” he said.
US citizens: Trump had no ‘backup’ plan to help them leave Middle East after Iran strike
US citizens living in the Middle East say they’re “angry” at the US state department, criticising the Trump administration for having no “backup plan” to help them leave the region in the hours and days after the start of the US-Israel war on Iran.
One person, whose family voted for Trump for his anti-war stance, said she felt “betrayed” and what she perceived as the treatment of US citizens as “an afterthought”.
Trump claims he has ‘absolute right’ to impose new tariffs after supreme court blow
Donald Trump has claimed he has “the absolute right” to impose new tariffs after the US supreme court ruled many of the import duties he imposed last year were illegal.
The president attacked the court in a late night broadside on Sunday, accusing it of having “unnecessarily RANSACKED” the US – and failing to show him sufficient loyalty.
China ‘still communicating’ with US over Trump visit despite talk of delay
China has said it is in communication with the US about Donald Trump’s planned visit to Beijing, despite hints from the US president that he might delay the trip if his prospective hosts do not help to unblock the strait of Hormuz.
Federal judge blocks RFK Jr’s overhaul of vaccine recommendations
The appointment of a controversial slate of vaccine advisers by Robert F Kennedy Jr likely violated federal law, and all votes taken by the committee over the past year have been stayed, a federal judge ruled on Monday.
US supreme court to consider Trump push to end protection status for Haitians and Syrians
The supreme court will hear arguments over the Trump administration’s push to end legal protections for people fleeing war and natural disaster from countries around the world, including Haiti and Syria.
The justices refused to immediately lift the protections for hundreds of thousands of people Monday, allowing them to live and work in the US legally for now.
Trump discloses Florida Republican’s ‘terminal’ diagnosis in meandering talk
Donald Trump on Monday publicly revealed details about a Republican congressman’s “terminal” diagnosis that could have left him “dead by June”, prompting Mike Johnson, speaker of the House, to say: “That wasn’t public.”
What else happened today:
There was scant data behind ending the Covid vaccine recommendation for pregnant people and children, according to internal memos made public because of a lawsuit against the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Donald Trump reinforced comments made by Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), threatening the broadcast licenses of news organizations that report unfavorably on the war in Iran.
Susie Wiles, the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff, has been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer but plans to continue working while undergoing treatment.
Gregory Bovino of the US border patrol, who was demoted in late January as the public face of the controversial and deadly immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, says he is retiring at the end of March.
Republican senator John Cornyn and Democratic congressman Greg Casar of Texas squabbled outside Austin’s international airport on Monday over funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as the shutdown of the agency enters its second month.
A late winter storm continued a destructive, elemental march across the eastern US, with thousands of flights canceled or delayed as powerful winds combined with a partial government shutdown delayed travelers passing through airport security scanners.
Catching up? Here’s what happened Sunday 15 March.
