Trump humiliated as major European leader says he has harmed NATO more than Putin

The Czech Republic’s president has slammed Donald Trump’s recent remarks about NATO, saying they have damaged the alliance more than Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s actions have over the space of several years. “Over the past few weeks, Trump has done more to reduce NATO’s credibility than Vladimir Putin has managed over many years,” Petr Pavel said.

Czechia’s leader also stressed that NATO is based on the principles of deterrence and collective defence: “At the moment when we begin to question the Alliance as a single, cohesive entity ready to act jointly and decisively, its role is naturally diminished,” he warned. Mr Pavel also noted that the US leader’s criticism does not take into account the fact that NATO is a defensive alliance and “not an alliance that will automatically provide assistance in wars fought outside its territory”.

As quoted by Czech news website Seznam Zprávy, he added that European allies “were not informed from the outset about the objectives and operations, and in fact no one even asked them for cooperation”.

“Only when the war began to develop, perhaps in an unexpected direction, did Donald Trump say that European allies should ensure safe navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, and when he did not receive a positive response, he considered this a disappointment for the whole of NATO,” Mr Pavel said, calling this “unfair”.

Last week, Mr Trump revealed that he is seriously considering the possibility of withdrawing the US from NATO, having earlier threatened to abandon the US’s pledge to defend NATO allies if they came under attack.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the US President is also considering a plan to punish certain NATO member states that, in his view, did not provide sufficient support for the operation against Iran. This plan could involve withdrawing US troops from such countries and redeploying them to nations that offered significant support for the US campaign in the Middle East.

For example, Washington could close some military bases in Spain or Germany.

Vladimir Putin’s relationship with NATO has been one of intense hostility since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Russian leader views NATO’s eastward expansion as a top security threat and a broken promise, using it to justify actions against Ukraine.

Relations are currently frozen on a structural level, with NATO halting practical cooperation. However, some military communication channels have remained in place to prevent a direct confrontation.