PR in the Philippines

(SeaPRwire) –   As President Donald Trump continues to express anger at NATO European allies for their lack of support in the war with Iran, he has made clear that their behavior comes at a cost.

In the weeks during the war and since the ceasefire, the president has responded not only with words but also with decisive actions against several of those countries.

On Saturday, Trump said he would withdraw more than the initial 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany as announced by the Pentagon, following German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s criticism of the American effort to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

A day earlier, he remarked about Germany, “We’re gonna cut way down. We’re cutting a lot further than 5,000.” The Trump administration previously announced a reduction of 5,000 troops in Germany after Merz stated that Iran’s regime “humiliated” Trump.

In apparent panic, Merz retracted his attack on Trump and his Iran strategy on Sunday. The chancellor wrote on X: “The United States is and will remain Germany’s most important partner in the North Atlantic Alliance. We share a common goal: Iran must not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons.”

Trump increased his troop withdrawal figure from Germany amid his comments about reducing U.S. military presence in Spain and Italy due to their failure to assist America in the war against Iran. The president’s frustration with Western European nations has been growing for weeks and could lead to significant changes within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at The Heritage Foundation, told Digital, “The lack of support for the United States has been nothing less than treacherous. I think the president has the right to be outraged by the lack of support from key European allies.”

He explained, “There is a deeply rooted cultural appeasement in Europe toward the Iranian regime that dates back decades, along with a refusal to acknowledge the grave dangers posed by a nuclear-armed Iran. European leaders are sleepwalking toward catastrophe with the dangerous path they have chosen.

“The absence of support for the United States shows how far Europe has strayed from its moral compass. Iran is a genocidal regime that threatens to erase Israel from existence,” he noted. Gardiner added that the Islamic Republic has killed thousands of its own people.

Gardiner, who served as an advisor to Lady Thatcher, stated, “If you listen to European leaders, it’s as if the U.S. is the villain here.”

Merz, speaking last week in Marsberg, criticized the U.S. approach to Iran, claiming Washington was being “humiliated by the Iranian leadership” and expressing hope that the conflict would end “as quickly as possible.”

Gardiner commented on Merz’s remarks: “Statements like these actually aid the propaganda of the Iranian dictatorship. It is astonishing that a German chancellor would make such remarks during wartime…and the German chancellor is providing comfort to the Iranian regime. It is utterly disgraceful.”

Numerous press inquiries sent to Merz’s spokesman Stefan Kornelius were not answered.

Before announcing the troop withdrawal from Germany and in response to a question about reducing U.S. troops in Spain and Italy, Trump replied, “I mean, they haven’t been exactly on board. Yeah, probably. Yeah, I probably will… Italy hasn’t been of any help to us. And Spain has been horrible. Absolutely horrible.”

Spain’s socialist Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has taken a hostile stance against the U.S. and Israeli military campaign targeting the Iranian regime, prohibiting the use of Spanish military bases for refueling aircraft or preparing for military operations. He has condemned the campaign as illegal while remaining silent on the regime’s execution of thousands of protesters and its intensified efforts to develop ballistic missiles and enrich uranium for nuclear weapons.

Gardiner said, “The Spanish have been the worst by far. At least the Germans and Italians have allowed the use of their bases. The Spanish have refused to cooperate in any way with the war.”

Trump told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera last month about Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, “I’m shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong.”

The Europe expert, Gardiner, observes a wide gap between how mainly Western European countries and the United States view the preservation of Western civilization, freedom, democracy, and liberty.

“Europe has lost both its ability and its willingness to fight. The United States is clearly willing to fight to defend Western civilization and the free world. Much of Europe has given up on this, especially Western Europe. It is an appeasement mindset combined with weakness, pacifism, and a growing acceptance among European leaders of mass migration and Islamification.”

He added, “Europe has fundamentally changed over the last twenty years beyond recognition, yet Europe’s ruling elites accept it seemingly as a given, with some notable exceptions.”

Trump reprimanded the United Kingdom and France in March regarding their position on the war against Iran.

“The Country of France wouldn’t let planes heading to Israel, loaded with military supplies, fly over French territory,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“France has been VERY UNHELPFUL with respect to the ‘Butcher of Iran,’ who has been successfully eliminated! The U.S.A. will REMEMBER!!!,” he wrote.

Trump also wrote, “All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to participate in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you.”

“Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT.”

“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself; the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. Iran has been essentially decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!”

Gardiner stated that the crisis over the Iran war demonstrates that Europe has surrendered. The major Western European powers have embraced “defeatism,” and “they don’t care. It is that simple. And future generations will have to pay the price for the course Europe is currently taking,” he said.

‘ Brittany Miller and Solly Boussidan contributed to this report.