Allies react to Trump's remarks about moving to pull the U.S. out of NATO

Some of the United States' closest and longest-standing allies reacted to President Trump's most recent threat to try and pull the U.S. out of NATO on Wednesday by issuing reminders of the transatlantic alliance's purpose, and the power it helps the U.S. project across Europe.

"Let me recall what NATO is," French junior army minister Alice Rufo said, according to the Reuters news agency. "It is a military alliance concerned with the security of territories in the Euro-Atlantic area. It is not intended to carry out an operation in the Strait of Hormuz, which is not in accordance with international law."

"I hope that amid the emotions surrounding the President of the United States today, a moment of calm will come," Poland's Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said. "Why? Because there is no NATO without the United States, and it is in our interest that this calm comes. But there is also no American power without NATO."

A German government spokesperson, responding to Mr. Trump's remarks about NATO to the Telegraph newspaper, noted that it was not "the first ‌time he's ⁠done this, and since it's a recurring phenomenon, you can probably judge the consequences for yourself," according to Reuters. 

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, asked earlier about Mr. Trump's statement, said the U.K. remained "fully committed" to what he called "the single most effective military alliance the world has ever seen."

There was no immediate response from NATO headquarters or its Secretary General Mark Rutte, who has managed to remain on relatively good terms with President Trump despite the U.S. leader's routine bashing of the alliance.