Donald Trump takes veiled swipe at UK in warning to Europe over 'full force' Iran bombing

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Mar 16, 2026 - 17:00

Donald Trump takes veiled swipe at UK in warning to Europe over 'full force' Iran bombing

Donald Trump has taken a veiled swipe at the UK and European nations for failing to join the US action in the Strait of Hormuz, declaring they "depend on it more than us".

Delivering an update on the conflict in a press conference in Washington, the US President encouraged those nations to "come and help us" after "taking care" of Iran.

Mr Trump told reporters: "We strongly encourage other nations whose economies depend on the Strait far more than ours. We get less than one per cent of our oil from the Strait, and some countries get much more.

"Japan gets 95 per cent, China gets 90 per cent, many of the Europeans get quite a bit. South Korea gets 35 per cent. So we want them to come and help us with the Strait."

Addressing the help he has received from some nations, Mr Trump swiped at countries for being "less enthusiastic" than others in sending defences to help the US.

He said: "Numerous countries have told me they're on the way. Some are very enthusiastic about it and some countries that we've helped for many, many years, we've protected them from horrible outside sources, they weren't that enthusiastic."

Mr Trump warned those countries: "The level of enthusiasm, it matters to me. We have some countries where we have 45,000 great soldiers protecting them from harm's way, and we have done a great job.

"And when we want to know, do you have any minesweepers? Well, we would rather not get involved. We're protecting you and you don't want to get involved in something that is very minor. Very few shots are going to be taken because they don't have many shots left, but they said we'd rather not get involved.

"I just want the fake news media and everybody else to remember that that was said. Because when I've been a big critic of all of the protecting of countries, because I know that we'll protect them and if ever needed, if we ever needed help, they won't be there for us."

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