President Trump said Wednesday he is considering withdrawing the United States from NATO, a move that would upend the 77-year-old alliance at a moment when Europe is already under strain from the war with Iran and from questions about U.S. support.
Trump told he was "absolutely" considering an attempt to exit NATO, while also telling Britain's Telegraph newspaper that leaving the alliance was "beyond reconsideration." The comments landed after months of renewed pressure from Trump on allies to spend more on defense, pressure that helped push NATO members to agree to a dramatic increase in their military budgets during his 2024 campaign for a second term.
The issue matters now because Trump is no longer speaking only as a critic. He is back in office, Marco Rubio — who helped spearhead a 2023 law barring a president from leaving NATO without congressional approval — is his secretary of state, and the administration is openly revisiting the value of the alliance. NATO was formed in 1949 with 12 countries and now has 32 members, including Finland, which joined in 2023, and Sweden, which joined in 2024.
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Rubio said on on Tuesday that if the United States cannot use military bases in Europe during its war with Iran, membership in NATO will have to be reconsidered. He said, "unfortunately, we are going to have to reexamine whether or not this alliance, that has served this country well for a while, is still serving that purpose, or is it now become a one-way street." He added later, "After this conflict is concluded, we are going to have to reexamine that relationship."
The friction goes to the heart of Article 5, the alliance's core pledge that an attack on one NATO member is considered an attack on all. Trump has long complained that allies have not paid enough for their own defense, and during his 2024 campaign he made the issue central, pledging not to withdraw the United States if other countries paid their fair share. NATO allies have since been reluctant to assist the United States during the Iran war, and many have denied Washington permission to use their airspace or airfields in recent days.
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That leaves Trump with a public threat he has now made more than once and a legal obstacle that Congress already tried to build in his way. Whether he is prepared to test that limit, and how far Europe is willing to absorb the shock, is now the central question hanging over the alliance he once said he would keep only if others came up with the money.
