United States President Donald Trump has returned to a familiar theme during a meeting with NATO chief Mark Rutte, slamming European countries for not supporting the US-Israel war on Iran.Sitting across from Rutte in the White House’s Oval Office, Trump reiterated his frustration that members of the NATO alliance did not join in the war effort.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list“We didn’t need help on this at all. We demolished them in literally the first week,” Trump said of Iran.“But it would have been nice if they would have said, ‘We’d like to help.’ We didn’t even need it, but it would have been nice if they said that.”Trump, who has openly mused about pulling back from the transatlantic alliance, signalled he would discuss the matter further with Rutte behind closed doors.“ We’re going to be discussing what took place, and we’ll see what happens,” he said.Trump has frequently expressed disappointment that European nations did not do more to support the US in its war against Iran, which unleashed weeks of conflict across the Middle East and sent shockwaves through the global economy.But Rutte’s appearance in the Oval Office comes at a critical time. In roughly two weeks, on July 7, NATO is slated to hold its annual summit in Ankara, Turkiye’s capital.Rutte is widely seen as sympathetic to Trump, and critics view his visit to the White House as an attempt to soothe the US president.Trump, for his part, praised Rutte at Wednesday’s meeting as a “great guy, great leader, great secretary-general”.“ If anybody else were in that position, we woul …
