President Trump on Sunday warned NATO faces a “very bad” future if US allies fail to help reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz, as oil prices soar amid the war in Iran.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Trump said European nations and other global powers that rely on Gulf oil should join a US-led effort to secure the waterway — where roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply normally flows.
“It’s only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there,” Trump told the British outlet, arguing that Europe and China are more heavily dependent on oil from the region than the US.
“If there’s no response, or if the response is negative, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO.”
The president also said he could delay his summit with China’s President Xi Jinping later this month as he presses Beijing to help unblock the strait.
“I think China should help too because China gets 90 percent of its oil from the straits,” Trump told the Financial Times.
“We’d like to know before that. Two weeks is a long time… We may delay,” he said, without elaborating on how long.