President Donald Trump on Monday criticized some of the United States’ allies for not heeding his calls to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively closed due to Iranian missile and drone attacks.
"Numerous countries have told me they're on the way. Some are very enthusiastic about it, and some are in. Some are countries that we've helped for many, many years. We've protected them from horrible outside sources, and they weren't that enthusiastic," he said in a news conference in Washington DC.
"The level enthusiasm matters to me. We have some countries where we have 45,000 soldiers, great soldiers, protecting them from harm's way, and we have done a great job. And well, we want to know, do you have any mine sweepers? Well, would rather not get involved, sir."
"For 40 years, we're protecting you, and you don't want to get involved in something that is very minor, very few shots going to be taken... But they said, we'd rather not get involved."
"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," Trump said.
