'I told them to stay away:' Trump blasts 'useless paper tiger' Nato after Strait of Hormuz reopens
The President said he rejected their offer for help unless they wanted to "load up their ships with oil"
Donald Trump has blasted Nato as "useless" and told them to "stay away unless they want to load their shops with oil" after Iran announced the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
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The president said he received a call from the alliance on Friday shortly after Tehran said the passage would be opening for "all commercial vessels".
Trump welcomed the announcement, but shortly afterwards took another swipe at Nato who he branded "useless" when needed by the US, calling them a "paper tiger".
He wrote on TruthSocial: "Now that the Hormuz Strait situation is over, I received a call from NATO asking if we would need some help.
Read more: Israel and Lebanon enter into ceasefire, as Trump asks Hezbollah to 'act nicely'
"I TOLD THEM TO STAY AWAY, UNLESS THEY JUST WANT TO LOAD UP THEIR SHIPS WITH OIL. They were useless when needed, a Paper Tiger! President DJT."
The Strait's closure had caused global energy prices to soar, but the price of crude oil fell sharply after Iran's foreign minister Seyed Abbas Aragchi's announcement on Friday.
Writing on X, the Iranian official said: "In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire, on the coordinated route as already announced by Ports and Maritime Organisation of the Islamic Rep. of Iran."
Upon hearing the news about the strait being reopened, Trump posted on Truth Social: "IRAN HAS JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THE STRAIT OF IRAN IS FULLY OPEN AND READY FOR FULL PASSAGE. THANK YOU!"
In a series of posts to the social media platform following the news, Trump paid tribute to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan and the UAE for their "great bravery and help".
In his announcement, it was unclear which ceasefire Aragchi was referring to in his post about reopening the strait but Trump posted: "Again! This deal is not tied, in any way, to Lebanon, but we will, MAKE LEBANON GREAT AGAIN!"
He rounded off the posts by writing: "A GREAT AND BRILLIANT DAY FOR THE WORLD! DJT", and "Iran has agreed to never close the Strait of Hormuz again. It will no longer be used as a weapon against the World! President DONALD J. TRUMP".
Trump has repeatedly criticised Nato throughout the conflict for what he deemed as a lack of assistance to the US.
It emerged on Friday afternoon that Britain and France said it will lead a "multinational mission" aimed at protecting ships passing through the Strait.
The Strait's closure had caused global energy prices to soar but prices of crude oil have already fallen sharply after Mr Aragchi's announcement.
The cost of a barrel of Brent crude fell to below $90 a barrel, having been above $98 earlier in the day.NYMEX light sweet crude, the US benchmark, also dropped significantly.