{"id":566254,"date":"2026-03-26T19:55:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T19:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/566254\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T19:55:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T19:55:14","slug":"us-president-criticises-australia-for-lack-of-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/566254\/","title":{"rendered":"US President criticises Australia for lack of support"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Michael<\/p>\n

March 27, 2026 \u2014 5:50am<\/p>\n

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Washington: Donald Trump again took aim at Australia for not assisting him with the war against Iran, as the price of oil surges amid fears that the conflict and closure of the Strait of Hormuz may continue for weeks.<\/p>\n

Describing Iranian negotiators as both \u201cgreat\u201d and \u201cstrange\u201d, the US president said it was Tehran \u2013 not him \u2013 that was desperate for an off-ramp, while suggesting an agreement to end the war may not be possible.<\/p>\n

\"USUS President Donald Trump singled out Australia for criticism as he lashed allies over their failure to provide more assistance for his war in Iran.Bloomberg<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are begging to make a deal, not me,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if we\u2019ll be able to do that. I don\u2019t know if we\u2019re willing to do that. They should have done that four weeks ago \u2026 The reason they want to make a deal is they have been just beat to shit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s special envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed the US had shared a 15-point \u201caction list\u201d<\/a> with Iran via Pakistani mediators that could serve as the basis of a peace plan. Witkoff said there were \u201cstrong signs\u201d that Iran could be convinced that it was at an \u201cinflection point\u201d with no desirable alternatives.<\/p>\n

Pakistan\u2019s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar appeared to play down the chances of in-person talks as soon as this weekend. In a post on X, he said there had been \u201cunnecessary speculation in the media\u201d about peace talks and, in reality, messages were being relayed indirectly between the two parties through Pakistan.<\/p>\n

The price of Brent crude, the international oil standard, rose nearly 6 per cent on Thursday (US time) to more than $US108, while the average national price of petrol was poised to tip over $US4 ($5.80) a gallon \u2013 upping the pressure on the Trump administration over the domestic impact of what Trump calls his \u201cexcursion\u201d in Iran.<\/p>\n

\"SpecialSpecial envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed a 15-point plan had been shared with Iran through Pakistani intermediaries.Bloomberg<\/p>\n

The president again lashed out at allies for failing to help, and criticised Australia unprompted after he was asked about British Prime Minister Keir Starmer\u2019s reluctance to aid the war effort.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Starmer] did something that was shocking. He didn\u2019t want to help us,\u201d Trump said. \u201cAustralia, too \u2013 Australia was not great. I was a little surprised by Australia.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"US<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say anybody was great, other than the five countries in the Middle East. We never really had very much support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump said the Iran operation was \u201clittle league\u201d and he doubted any allies would support the US in the event of a \u201cbig league\u201d conflict. \u201cAnd that\u2019s not fair. And we have to remember that as a country.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is not the first time Trump has condemned Australia<\/a> among other allies. Last week he said he was surprised that Australia, Japan and South Korea had not said yes to requests for help \u201cbecause we always say yes to them\u201d.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia did what was asked of it, which was to assist the United Arab Emirates with an E-7A Wedgetail surveillance aircraft.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s latest remarks came after Israel claimed it had killed Iranian commodore Alireza Tangsiri, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps\u2019 navy, and other senior naval commanders in an airstrike overnight.<\/p>\n

\"IranianIranian Navy commander Alireza Tangsiri speaks during a military drill in February.AP<\/p>\n

The speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, with whom the US is reportedly dealing, congratulated pro-government protesters in Iran following more demonstrations on the streets of Tehran.<\/p>\n

He said the protesters\u2019 persistence had \u201ccreated the conditions for a historic victory for dear Iran\u201d, and \u201cno one can issue an ultimatum to Iran and the Iranian people\u201d, according to an automated translation on X.<\/p>\n

\"Pro-governmentPro-government demonstrators in Iran held signs of the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, though it is not clear whether he is still alive.AP<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, US news site Axios reported the Pentagon was preparing multiple options<\/a> for a \u201cfinal blow\u201d against Iran that could involve invading or blockading Iran\u2019s crucial Kharg Island oil terminal<\/a>, invading the island of Larak in the Strait of Hormuz, or seizing Abu Musa and other islands near the entrance to the strait.<\/p>\n

Members of the elite US military\u2019s 82nd Airborne Division are being deployed to the Middle East<\/a>, along with thousands of Marines. Trump has made no decision about their duties, the White House says, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying the president simply wanted to have options.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Republicans in Congress are increasingly voicing disquiet following classified briefings about the operation in Iran, accusing the Pentagon of withholding information.<\/p>\n

Nancy Mace, a Trump ally from South Carolina, said she would not support putting American troops on the ground, and called for Congress to be given a \u201cgreater say\u201d on the war, despite opposing such moves earlier.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe justifications presented to the American public for the war in Iran were not the same military objectives we were briefed on today in the House Armed Services Committee,\u201d she said on Wednesday (Washington time).<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Alireza<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis gap is deeply troubling. The longer this war continues, the faster it will lose the support of Congress and the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking at a Republican fundraising dinner in Washington on Wednesday night, Trump told lawmakers he was no longer going to call the Iran campaign a war.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t like the word \u2018war\u2019 because you\u2019re supposed to get approval,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I\u2019ll use the word \u2018military operation\u2019, which is really what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"MichaelMichael Koziol<\/a> is the North America correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political reporter in Canberra.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"March 27, 2026 \u2014 5:50am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":566255,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":{"0":"post-566254","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=566254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/566255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=566254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=566254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=566254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}