Donald Trump is trying and failing to draw US allies into the war in Iran

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Donald Trump has warned Nato that its future will be “very bad” if countries in the western alliance refuse his request to support the US in opening up the Strait of Hormuz.

So what? They are not rushing to help. Since the US and Israel launched their war against Iran 17 days ago, Tehran has blocked oil and gas tankers from travelling through the strait, which is the only maritime passage out of the Gulf and a key artery of the global economy. Trump’s latest threat has opened another rift with America’s erstwhile allies, which include

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  European states, whose economies are under threat;

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  Gulf states, whose safe-haven reputation has been damaged; and

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  the Iranian people, who were promised salvation by Trump and got warfare.

Dire strait. America appears to have been caught on the hop by Iran’s determination to block Hormuz. Surging oil prices – Brent crude has gone from roughly $70 a barrel three weeks ago to more than $100 a barrel now – have added to an affordability crisis in the US. Republican polling numbers stand to suffer as a result.

Pipe dream. Trump hoped the remnants of the Iranian regime would surrender or the Iranian people would rise up and finish the job. Neither looks likely to happen.

America alone. Trump and his secretary of war, Pete Hegseth, saw no need for any other support when they attacked Iran alongside Israel. Trump even mocked Starmer for considering sending a warship to the region after the conflict had begun, saying that the US doesn’t “need people that join wars after we’ve already won”.

Not won yet. It turns out that Trump wants help. The US may have the world’s largest navy, but providing escorts to tankers is no easy task. Iran has the ability to lay thousands of mines and has threatened to fire missiles and drones from the coast.

Each tanker will need to be escorted by at least one warship, experts say, as well as air cover provided by helicopters or attack aircraft. Reconnaissance drones will also need to scour the coast and further inland. The operation will be expensive – and the risk to life is high.

Reply guys. Keir Starmer said the UK would not be “drawn into the wider war”, while Germany, Italy, France, Japan and Australia have ruled out sending warships to Hormuz.

Coalition of the unwilling. There is an acceptance that something needs to be done to get oil and gas moving again and limit the economic damage. But no one seems keen to join a military operation led by Trump and Hegseth, nor to give the US both barrels.

He who must not be named. Starmer has enjoyed positive headlines after his refusal to join the US-Israel attacks on Iran. But the prime minister’s repeated failure to name Trump directly, even when speaking yesterday, has hampered his ability to push back as firmly as he could.

No hurry. Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, has called for a diplomatic response, but so little has been done to try to organise one. The E3 of France, Britain and Germany put out a joint statement in the first few hours of the war, but have yet to meet.

Very bad. Trump’s Nato threat will annoy secretary general Mark Rutte, who has invested time and dignity in persuading the US president to stay in the alliance. But few in Brussels truly believe that the man whom Rutte called “Daddy” is committed to collective defence.

Not Nato. To wit, Trump consistently fails to understand Nato. As a defensive alliance, its members would not agree to take part in an offensive operation. Despite Marco Rubio’s insistence that the attack on Iran was “pre-emptive”, no one else believes this.

What’s more... It has only been two months since Trump threatened to invade the territory of a Nato member. At least the president wasn’t shameless enough to ask Denmark for help.

Photograph by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images