Trump: ‘Very bad’ for future of NATO if allies don’t help secure Strait of Hormuz
US president Donald Trump has warned in an interview with the Financial Times that it would be “very bad for the future of NATO” if allies don’t help secure the Strait of Hormuz.
He said he expected China to help secure the channel, a critical waterway for global oil shipping, and suggested he could delay a planned summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping if the country doesn’t agree. On board Air Force One, Trump told journalists he was speaking to “about seven” countries about “policing” the strait, saying he “will remember” if they do not help.
Trump wants tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz to be escorted by the US Navy. He said on Saturday that several countries could send warships to help keep the strait open.
Japan and Australia have said they are not planning to send warships for the time being. Japanese Defence minister Shinjiro Koizumi told parliament on Monday that such a mission was “not currently under consideration”.
Australian Transport minister Catherine King told broadcaster ABC: “We know how incredibly important that is but that’s not something we’ve been asked or we’re contributing to.”
Japan said over the weekend that the threshold for protecting ships in the strait was “extremely high”. The country is heavily dependent on Middle Eastern oil, but naval deployment in the Middle East is “legally difficult”, the government said on Monday. Prime minister Sanae Takaichi is visiting Washington this week and has said she will discuss the issue with Trump there.
"We know how incredibly important that is but that’s not something we’ve been asked or we’re contributing to"
The Strait of Hormuz connects the Gulf of Oman with the Persian Gulf and is one of the main shipping routes for oil. Due to the US-Israeli attacks on Iran launched on 28 February and Tehran’s retaliation in the region, shipping there has been blocked.
Oil prices have risen more than 40 per cent since the start of the war. On Monday morning, a barrel of European benchmark Brent oil cost 104.45 USD, or 1.3 per cent more than Friday. A barrel of US WTI oil is 0.7 per cent more expensive, costing 99.36 USD for a barrel.
Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers have launched “limited and targeted ground operations against key Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon”, the IDF said in a post on social media.
“This activity is part of broader defensive efforts to establish and strengthen a forward defensive posture, which includes the dismantling of terrorist infrastructure and the elimination of terrorists operating in the area, to create an additional layer of security for residents of northern Israel,” the army said on X.
Israeli soldiers fire rounds towards southern Lebanon from northern Israel, 15 March 2026 © PHOTO ODD ANDERSEN / AFP
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