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9:46 11.04.2026 •
U.S. troops could be shifted toward alliance members in president’s good graces, ‘The Wall Street Journal’ notes.
The White House is considering a plan to punish some members of the NATO alliance that President Trump thinks were unhelpful to the U.S. and Israel during the Iran war, according to administration officials.
The proposal would involve moving U.S. troops out of North Atlantic Treaty Organization member countries deemed unhelpful to the Iran war effort and stationing them in countries that were more supportive. The proposal would fall far short of President Trump’s recent threats to fully withdraw the U.S. from the alliance, which by law he can’t do without Congress.
The plan, which has circulated and gained support among senior administration officials in recent weeks, is early in conception and one of several the White House is discussing to punish NATO. It underscores the growing rift between the Trump administration and European allies following the president’s decision to launch the war with Iran.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that “NATO wasn’t there when we needed them, and they won’t be there if we need them again.”
The U.S. has around 84,000 troops stationed across Europe, though the exact number varies from military exercises and rotational deployments. U.S. bases in Europe serve as a critical hub of global U.S. military operations, as well as provide an economic boon to the host country through investment. Bases in Eastern Europe also serve as a deterrent against Russia.
It couldn’t be determined which countries would lose troops, yet a number of alliance members have run afoul of Trump since he returned to office and more recently attracted his ire by objecting to the war in Iran.
Beyond repositioning troops, the plan could also involve closing a U.S. base in at least one of the European countries, possibly Spain or Germany, according to the two administration officials.
Countries that could benefit because they are viewed as supportive include Poland, Romania, Lithuania and Greece, the officials said. The Eastern European countries have some of the highest defense-spending rates in the alliance and were some of the first to signal they would support an international coalition to monitor the Strait of Hormuz. After war broke out, Romania quickly approved U.S. requests to allow its bases to be used by the U.S. Air Force.
The plan could result in putting more U.S. troops closer to the Russian border, an outcome likely to antagonize Moscow.
Trump said he was “very disappointed” with NATO and that their unwillingness to support the U.S. on the Iran war is “a mark on NATO that will never disappear.” He has frequently lashed out at the alliance and mused to aides in recent weeks about quitting the alliance altogether.
Last month he posted to his Truth Social platform that the member countries had done nothing to help in the war with Iran and added “U.S.A. NEEDS NOTHING FROM NATO.”
The Iran war is the latest in a series of diplomatic crises that the alliance has faced since Trump came into office. Trump angered allies over steep tariffs on Europe and his engagement with Russian President Vladimir Putin over efforts to broker peace in Ukraine. Trump also triggered an extraordinary diplomatic crisis with NATO ally Denmark over his efforts to annex Greenland, an Arctic island in the Danish kingdom.
Trump vented at Rutte over NATO inaction on Iran during turbulent meeting
U.S. President Donald Trump unloaded his frustration with NATO allies in a bad-tempered meeting with Secretary-General Mark Rutte — and indicated he was considering reprisals for lack of support over the war in Iran, POLITICO reveals.
According to two European officials, and a person familiar with the matter, who were briefed on the talks, Trump used the White House meeting as a venting session for the president to air out his frustration about Europe's refusal to participate in the Iran operation.
“It went shit,” said the first European official. “The conversation was nothing but a tirade of insults.” Trump “apparently threatened to do just about anything.”
The same two people and a third European official briefed on the meeting — who like others in this article were granted anonymity to divulge sensitive details — said the U.S. president gave those present the impression he wanted concrete actions from allies to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible.
However, a White House official said that the president made no demands of the alliance in his conversation with Rutte.
“As President Trump said yesterday, NATO was tested, and they failed,” the White House official said. “He has zero expectations for NATO at this point and did not ask them for anything, even though it’s a fact they benefit from the Strait of Hormuz far more than the United States.”
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