President Donald Trump, who has called on other nations to help protect the Strait of Hormuz, told reporters on Monday that “numerous countries have told me they’re on the way.”
“Some are very enthusiastic about it and some aren’t, some are countries we’ve helped for many, many years,” Trump said.
President Donald Trump speaks during a lunch with the Kennedy Center board members in the East Room of the White House in Washington, March 16, 2026.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
The president did not name countries that he says do not want to be involved, but he said, “We’re protecting you and you don’t want to get involved in something that is very minor. Very few shots are going to be taken because they don’t have many shots left. But they said we’d rather not get involved.”
The president went on to call Iran a “paper tiger.”
“I’d like to say their names,” he said of the countries, “but frankly, I don’t know if they would want me to or not, because, maybe they don’t want to be targeted, but I say it wouldn’t matter if you targeted or not, because this is a paper tiger that we’re dealing with now.”
Later in the press conference, Trump said he does not need help from other countries.
Asked if he was confident that France would help with the re-opening of the Strait, Trump said, “Yeah. I mean, sure, he’s going to,” referring to French President Emmanuel Macron.
“I think he’s going to help. I mean, I’ll let you know. I spoke to him yesterday. I don’t do a hard sell on them because my attitude is, ‘We don’t need anybody,” Trump said.
“We’re the strongest nation in the world. We have the strongest military by far in the world. We don’t need them,” Trump said. “But it’s interesting. I’m almost doing it in some cases, not because we need them, but because I want to find out how they react. Because I’ve been saying for years that if we ever did need them, they won’t be there. Not all of them, but they won’t be there.”
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.