After first demanding countries from Asia to Europe join a naval air strikes on Irancoalition to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump lashed out at the weak international response, saying of the laggards: "We don’t need them."
Trump had earlier on Monday called Iran a "paper tiger" as he tried to cajole more countries into sending warships to secure the strait for shipping as U.S. gas prices went up and the Iran war reached its 17th day. Gas prices have surged since the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28 and Iran closed the Persian Gulf waterway, a choke point for 20% of the world's oil.
Several allies said: Thanks, but no thanks.
"What does Trump expect a handful of European frigates to do that the powerful U.S. Navy cannot?" German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters. "This is not our war, and we didn't start it."
"I don't do a hard sell on them, because my attitude is: we don't need anybody," Trump said Monday, after demanding help one day earlier. "We're the strongest nation in the world, we have the strongest military by far in the world. We don't need them.
As Trump pushed for greater foreign support, family members of a U.S. airman killed in an accidental crash over Iraq expressed opposition to the war. "We didn’t need to be in this war," Stephan Douglas, a cousin of Air Force Tech. Sgt. Tyler Simmons told a local Ohio TV station. "This is uncalled for, and this is what we get." Simmons' grandmother also spoke against the war.