Donald Trump has declared he is ‘strongly considering’ pulling the United States out of Nato.
The US President lambasted the crucial military alliance for being a ‘paper tiger’ and said ‘they weren’t there for us’ over the Iran war.
Trump labelled Nato ‘terrible’ in an interview with The Telegraph and claimed the UK doesn’t ‘even have a Navy’.
His comments were published just the Sir Keir Starmer was about to begin a press conference on the conflict in the Middle East, forcing the PM to repeat his commitment to Nato.
The president said that the US’s membership of the security partnership was ‘beyond reconsideration’.
He added: ‘I was never swayed by Nato. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way.’
Speaking at a press conference moments after Trump’s bombshell intervention, Sir Keir Starmer said Nato ‘is the single most effective military alliance the world has ever seen’.
He went on: ‘It has kept us safe for many decades, and we are fully committed to Nato.
‘And secondly, whatever the pressure on me and others, whatever the noise, I’m going to act in the British national interest in all the decisions I make. And that’s why I’ve been absolutely clear that this is not our war and we’re not going to get dragged into it.
‘But I’m equally clear when it comes to defence and security and our economic future, we have to have closer ties with Europe.
‘That’s why we had the summit last year, this year as I’ve just announced there’ll be a future summit.’
Trump’s remarks follow a warning from the Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the US will ‘reexamine’ its relationship with Nato once the conflict in the Middle East has ended.
He told Fox News: ‘I think there’s no doubt, unfortunately, after this conflict is concluded, we are going to have to reexamine that relationship.
‘We’re going to have to reexamine the value of Nato in that alliance for our country.’
Rubio said the administration were angered by European countries blocking the US from using their military bases.
He added: ‘When we need them to allow us to use their military bases, their answer is no? Then why are we in Nato?’
This is a breaking news story and is being updated.
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