Impact of US pulling out of NATO as Trump is ‘seriously considering move’
Donald Trump has been making noises about the possibility of pulling the US out of NATO, the global alliance it is the lynchpin of.
The US president recently threw his country into a war with Iran, but America's allies have shown little enthusiasm for charging into the conflict after him.
The impact of the war has been felt around the world as the Strait of Hormuz through which 20 percent of the global supply of oil and natural gas flows is now closed to ships that Iran has not agreed to allow through.
Price rises around the world have been the consequence and while Trump has insisted he is working on a deal to end the war nothing concrete has been announced.
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Not content with attacking Iran, Trump has also been attacking his allies as he recently hit out at the NATO alliance in an interview with the Daily Telegraph where he said he was strongly considering withdrawing the US from it.
"I was never swayed by NATO. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way," Trump said when asked if he was reconsidering US participation in the alliance after the war with Iran was over.
The military impact of the US pulling out of NATO
This is nowhere near the first time Trump has complained about NATO and made noises about how he thinks the US could leave it.
That would be bad for NATO since American military might and industry is the centrepiece of the alliance's military might, no country in the world spends more on the military than the US so they've got the numbers and the hardware to do a lot of the fighting should it happen.
However, as Modern Diplomacy explained it would also be very bad for the US.
With so many countries in it around the world NATO allows the US military to project power all around the globe as it has many military bases in member states.
The US may end up losing those military bases and the strategic advantages they bring, as while America has nuclear aircraft carriers that can operate for long periods of time without needing to resupply the support ships that sail with them do not.
America's long-range bombers have an incredible range and can refuel in mid-air, but without bases to operate from nearer to their targets their effectiveness is dulled and the ability to support them is reduced.
Trump may moan about NATO, but without it the US military capability to operate around the world is severely hampered.
The economic impact of the US pulling out of NATO
On top of that, Modern Diplomacy warns that the US arms industry upon which a lot of money and hundreds of thousands of American jobs depend will see orders 'dry up' from Europe if NATO falls apart.
Lots of NATO countries buy American military hardware and have intricate deals with their major military contractors which would be financially disastrous should they end.
The US would lose not only a continent of allies but also likely lose a continent of customers as well.
While Trump complains about other countries not paying their way in NATO the US military industrial complex has done very well from money they've got supplying the militaries of other countries.
Trump might complain that US is doing more for NATO than the alliance does for the US but America gets a plethora of benefits by teaming up instead of going it alone.
Trump's latest complaints
While NATO is a defensive alliance and countries can call for aid if attacked, the war with Iran was started by a series of 'pre-emptive strikes' from the US and Israel.
The only time NATO's Article 5, which obliges members of the alliance to contribute to the defence of an ally that has been attacked, was triggered was on behalf of the US in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks.
Despite the war not being defensive, Trump is upset other countries in NATO did not join him in his war as he told the Telegraph 'it was actually hard to believe'.
He said he thought their participation in his war 'should be automatic', saying that when Russia invaded Ukraine the US was 'there automatically' despite claiming the Eastern European country 'wasn't our problem'.
"It was a test, and we were there for them, and we would always have been there for them. They weren’t there for us."
What other world leaders have said
When Trump went on his latest tirade against NATO he specifically took a swipe at the UK, calling it 'too old', and accusing it of having 'aircraft carriers that didn’t work' while he said British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was spending the country's money on 'costly windmills that are driving your energy prices through the roof'.
Asked to respond to Trump's comments on NATO, Starmer said: "Firstly, NATO is the single most effective military alliance the world has ever seen, and it has kept us safe for many decades, and we are fully committed to NATO.
"Secondly, that whatever the pressure on me and others, whatever the noise, I’m going to act in the British national interest in all the decisions that I make.
"And that’s why I’ve been absolutely clear that this is not our war and we’re not going to get dragged into it."
On a visit to Japan, French President Emmanuel Macron there was a benefit to Europe's 'predictability' and called out unpredictable allies.
"You don’t know whether the day after tomorrow they will still be in that position, and whether tomorrow they won’t make a decision that could hurt you without even informing you," he said, naming no specific country in particular.
Former Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said it would be a 'major mistake' for Trump to pull the US out of NATO.
"It would harm not only Europe, but the United States itself and would have a negative impact on the entire world," though he said he didn't think it would end up happening.
"The mere fact that President Donald Trump is publicly considering this possibility clearly shows that we must wake up and start paying much more attention to our own security."
Topics: Donald Trump, NATO, US News, World News
Joe Harker