Trump hails war talks but Iran continues to threaten the Strait of Hormuz

16 seconds agoNATO Amb. Whitaker warns allies not to ‘quibble’; US will not ‘be blocked’ in next Iran-style op

The Trump administration expects allies to be fully aligned with Washington in future military operations or face President Donald Trump’s ire, according to U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker.

The U.K., specifically, “probably messed up some of our operations,” Whitaker told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” on Thursday morning, warning allies to not “quibble” with Trump because the U.S. will not “be blocked by some of our allies.”

“President Trump was very frustrated during Epic Fury, especially at the start where we had either allies that didn’t cooperate with use of our own bases or even more importantly, were very negative on the efforts politically with their statements,” Whitaker said.

Whitaker said Trump “made the world better” by stopping Iran from remaining on a path toward a nuclear weapon, but argued the U.S. needs stronger political and military backing from its allies.

“We have to make sure that our allies are with us politically and militarily at all times because that’s how we’re strong and capable as ourselves, but we are stronger and even more capable when our allies are alongside of us,” he said.

Asked whether NATO allies had come around after some initially resisted U.S. operations, Whitaker said most were now providing the access Washington needs.

“I think the U.K., after the first few days where they made it difficult and probably messed up some of our operations that we were able to, of course, because we can project power from anywhere, were able to overcome,” he said. “Most of our allies, in fact, all of our allies in NATO countries, are allowing us bases and access and overflight that we need.”

Whitaker said the issue will be part of a six-month review of the U.S. military posture in Europe, including how American troops are treated in countries where they are stationed.

“We need to make sure that when we do the next Epic Fury, that we can have very clear deal in place, that we don’t have to quibble or be blocked by some of our allies,” Whitaker said.

The comments come ahead of next week’s NATO summit, which Whitaker predicted would be “a good news story” because European allies are increasing defense spending.

“We can point to European allies spending a lot more money on their own defense and, therefore, making NATO stronger,” he said.