The White House is pleading with allies to help secure the Strait of Hormuz — and privately assuring them that President Donald Trump is fine with high-level statements — as it pushes to calm financial markets, according to three European officials.
The Trump administration is urging European and Asian allies to issue these public commitments by the end of the week, the officials said. The White House is less concerned about specific contributions at this stage, they added. All were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive deliberations.
The move comes as Trump has been getting increasingly irate about allies not signing on to help keep ships moving through the vital waterway, posting on Truth Social on Tuesday: “WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!”
Even just a note of public support could help reassure increasingly dismayed investors, and perhaps give the Trump administration a framework of cooperation to build on later.
Those who have spoken with Trump administration officials in recent days said it's clear the White House values the market reaction most of all, according to two of the European officials.
Asked for comment, the White House pointed to Trump’s criticism of allies in the Oval Office Tuesday.
“I think NATO is making a very foolish mistake,” Trump told reporters during an appearance Tuesday beside Ireland’s leader in the Oval Office. “I’ve long said … I wonder whether or not NATO would ever be there for us. So this is a, this was a great test, because we don't need them, but they should have been there."
Trump’s war with Iran has put many of America’s closest allies and partners in a difficult spot. Trump didn’t brief many of these countries about the operation ahead of time. Those that got advanced notice had hours or days, not weeks, to prepare to defend their infrastructure and people in the region.
In Europe, committing ships to escort tankers through the strait would take away resources needed to help defend Ukraine against Russian attacks. In the Indo-Pacific, publicly backing a Hormuz security effort risks domestic backlash in countries where another Middle East conflict is unpopular, while also raising concerns about diverting already stretched naval resources from deterring China and protecting critical regional sea lanes.
It would also take time for many countries to reroute ships or other assets to the Middle East.
While many of Washington’s allies are keen to find a way to support Trump’s efforts, some want to sort out the details of their contributions before signing on to the effort, one of the European officials said.
"Leaders are well aware that it's a one-way street with him, that they can no longer count on the U.S. the way they used to. But most are looking to avoid a total rupture,” another one of the European officials said. “So despite the ironic twist here, they are weighing practical and political considerations, not emotional ones. If there is a lack of interest in what he's asking, it's because Europe is already stretched economically and with defending Ukraine. But there is also real concern about oil prices and what it would mean if the strait is shut down."
Trump repeated his earlier complaints on Tuesday that the U.K. had been too slow to accede to his requests to send two aircraft carriers to the Strait of Hormuz. But those aircraft carriers are located in far away theaters — such as near Australia — and would take weeks to get in place, should the U.K. bow to Trump’s request.
Speaking alongside Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Europe must not be distracted by the Middle East.
“Putin can’t be the one who benefits from the conflict in Iran, whether that’s oil prices or the dropping of sanctions,” Starmer said. “It is really important we keep our resolve in relation to supporting Ukraine, doing everything we can to weaken the hand of Putin."
Germany, Canada and Australia, meanwhile, have ruled out any military participation.
France did the same on Tuesday, with President Emmanuel Macron saying France is “not a party to the conflict and therefore France will never take part in operations to open or liberate the Strait of Hormuz” and would only participate in naval escorts “once the situation has calmed down.”
Tokyo is “vigorously examining” whether the dispatch of escort vessels “is within the bounds of the law,” Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Tuesday, per the Japan Times. That hesitation likely reflects the restrictions imposed by Japan’s post-war constitution, which forbid “armed troops to be dispatched to the land, sea, or airspace of other countries with the aim of using force.”
Trump has flip-flopped publicly about how much the U.S. needs its allies to help protect freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and has downplayed how much the shutdown of the channel affects America.
Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic adviser to the UAE’s president, said Tuesday that his country was considering joining the U.S. effort to secure Hormuz.
"We all have a responsibility to ensure the flow of trade, the flow of energy," he said at an online event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations.
Some affected countries have talked about standing up their own operations to protect freedom of navigation when the conditions allow.
European foreign ministers also met on Monday to discuss extending its Operation Aspides, which stood up last year to protect ships transiting the Red Sea amid Houthi attacks.
At the same time, U.S. allies are seeking better information from Washington about what Trump and his team see as the endpoint for the war that began in late February.
"Allies are still more in an, ‘Ok so, how's it going, what's your thinking mode. What are your assessments? We hear what you're saying publicly on the aims, but what does success and the point you put the pencil down look like?’” the first European official said.
Phelim Kine contributed to this report.
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