White House faces 'self-inflicted quagmire' as defense plan threatens to 'punish the US'

President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are furious with longtime U.S. allies in Europe who are openly critical of his war against Iran, and Trump is threatening to completely withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) — a move that, according to retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Mark Herling and many other national security experts, would be disastrous.

Politico reports that the Trump administration is looking at ways to punish NATO allies Trump is angry with. But according to some of Politico's sources, the U.S. would be cutting off its nose to spite its face.

In an article published on April 22, Politico reporters Jack Detsch and Paul McLeary explain, "The White House has developed something akin to a 'naughty and nice' list of NATO countries, as the Trump administration looks for ways to punish allies who refused to back the Iran war. The effort, which officials worked on ahead of NATO head Mark Rutte's visit to Washington this month, includes an overview of members' contributions to the alliance and places them into tiers, according to three European diplomats and a U.S. defense official familiar with the plan."

Detsch and McLeary add, "It's the latest sign that President Donald Trump plans to make good on his threats against allies who don't adhere to his wishes. And it's another pressure point on the increasingly frayed alliance, which has been battered by Trump's attacks — from his push to annex Greenland to his warning of a complete withdrawal from the pact."

A European official, interviewed on condition of anonymity, believes that efforts by the Trump administration to hurt other NATO members would end up hurting the United States.

The official told Politico, "They don't seem to have very concrete ideas…. when it comes to punishing bad allies. Moving troops is one option, but it mainly punishes the U.S., doesn't it?"

In 2023, then-President Joe Biden applauded Finland and Sweden's decisions to join NATO. Joel Linnainmäki, a former Finnish official, worked on Finland's entry into NATO — and now, he is frustrated with the Trump administration's treatment of the 77-year-old alliance.

Linnainmäki told Politico, "Trump and his team are busy trying to extract themselves from their self-inflicted quagmire. Likely, the administration does not have the bandwidth to open another hostile front with Europe as long as the war continues."

Detsch and McLeary note that some NATO allies have been more critical of the Iran war than others.

"While Spain and allies such as the U.K. and France either rejected or stalled U.S. requests for help," the Politico reporters observes, "Romania and several smaller nations allowed the U.S. to use their air bases. Bulgaria also quietly supported American logistics in the Middle East. Spain was already in trouble with the Trump administration for pushing back on NATO's 5 percent defense spending target at the alliance's Hague summit last year. Officials, though, have praised Baltic nations such as Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Poland for consistently ranking at the top of the bloc in military spending."

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