U.S. President Donald Trump has told UK newspaper The Telegraph he would like to withdraw from NATO.
Trump has repeatedly criticised the military alliance’s members for their lack of support for the U.S-Israel war with Iran.
If the U.S. does withdraw, NATO would lose significant defence spending and military assets.
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) was established in 1949 with 12 member nations, including the U.S, France, and the UK.
It now has 32 members, including Spain, Denmark, and Germany.
Australia is not a member, but is considered one of NATO’s four Asia-Pacific partners, along with New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea.
The organisation’s founding treaty states: “An attack against one Ally is considered as an attack against all Allies.“
The NATO treaty states: “An armed attack against one [NATO member] shall be considered an attack against them all”.
The only time this has been invoked was after the 11 September 2001 attack.
Members agreed the attack was “directed from abroad against” the U.S, and launched NATO’s first anti-terror operation.
For several months, 830 soldiers from 13 NATO countries were deployed to monitor U.S. airspace.
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Trump
Since the U.S. and Israel launched joint attacks on Iran, leading to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Trump has criticised NATO allies for not joining the conflict.
On 18 March, Trump posted to Truth Social, calling NATO a “one way street”.
He said the U.S. “no longer ‘need[s],’ or desire[s], the NATO Countries’ assistance – WE NEVER DID!”
This week, he specifically called out the UK, “which refused to get involved,” telling them to “go get your own oil”.
In an interview on 1 April (UK time) with The Telegraph, Trumpsaid he was seriously considering withdrawing the U.S. from NATO.
“I would say [it’s] beyond reconsideration. I was never swayed by Nato. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin knows that too, by the way,” he said.
In order to formally leave the alliance, Trump would need to secure either the support of both houses of Congress, or a two-thirds Senate majority.
Impact
The U.S. and Germany contribute the equal largest amount of funding to NATO, with around 15%.
The U.S. spent almost a trillion dollars on defence in 2025, close to double every other NATO country combined.
The U.S. military also has the third-largest number of active personnel in the world, at around 1.3 million. France is next highest NATO member, at number 23 in the world.
