Fox News Anchor Confronts NATO Chief on Trump Calling NATO ‘Cowards’

Fox News’s Shannon Bream confronted NATO chief Mark Rutte Sunday with Donald Trump’s Truth Social post calling the European nations “cowards” for not readily jumping in to assist with the Iran conflict.

“I know the president was angry because he feels that European and other allies have been too slow,” Rutte acknowledged, adding, “The good news here is that, since Thursday, a group of 22 countries, most of them from NATO but also Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the UAE, and Bahrain were “coming together to make sure the Strait of Hormuz is free, is opening up as soon as possible.”

Bream asked how the president’s negative comments “square with what you’re saying now about their willingness to show up?”

“The United States has been planning for this for weeks,” Rutte answered. “For obvious reasons, because of security, it was impossible to share that knowledge with allies, because that would have prevented the effect of the first attack, because there was a risk always of leaking. So, I totally understand why the U.S. was not able to share this with allies.”

He continued:

But at the same time it means that European allies and partners all over the world have used the last couple of weeks to make sure that we come together, to start planning to see what we can do collectively as allies, as partners of the United States, at the moment that’s possible for the Strait of Hormuz to open up, and, therefore, answering the president’s call on this. And that’s what I told him. I said, “Hey, they are following your lead.”

Earlier in the interview Rutte said he spoke with Trump “several times” over the last week, and said the U.S. mission to make sure Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons was “crucial” and “necessary.”

“I commend the president’s leadership on this,” Rutte said.

Watch the clip above via Fox News Sunday with Shannon Bream.

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