President Donald Trump has long questioned the post-Cold War purpose of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, criticizing the alliance as a “paper tiger” dependent on American money, munitions, and muscle, and calling for a “very serious examining” of its value to the United States after none of its other 31 members responded to his appeal for assistance in the Iran war.
While Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden scolded Europeans as “free-riders” unwilling to pay for their own defense, Trump during his first term excoriated treaty allies as “deadbeats,” labeled NATO “obsolete,” and, since returning to office in 2025, has ratcheted up criticism, demanding they spearhead support for Ukraine in fighting off Russia’s invasion, threatening to seize Greenland from Denmark, characterizing members as “cowards” unlikely to uphold Article 5 commitments, and openly musing about withdrawing from a coalition the United States has led since its 1948 founding.
