“Some are very enthusiastic, and some are less than enthusiastic, and I assume some will not do it,” Trump told reporters March 16. (Allison Robbert/Associated Press)
March 16, 2026 2:14 PM, EDT
Key Takeaways:
- U.S. allies in Europe and Asia have largely declined President Donald Trump’s request to send ships to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz amid the conflict with Iran.
- Their reluctance reflects years of strained relations, with experts saying Washington has depleted goodwill through tariffs, pressure on defense spending and shifting messages on the conflict.
- Governments are weighing risks and unclear objectives, and many say they may only act through broader coalitions or formal requests as discussions continue.
After years of being antagonized by President Donald Trump, U.S. allies in Europe and Asia are in no hurry to bow to his demand that they send ships into a war he started — and has claimed to have won already.
Their response to his call for help to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint for about a fifth of the world’s oil, has ranged from caution to ambivalence if not outright rejection. European officials have begun debating whether to redirect a Red Sea naval mission toward Hormuz, but the move requires unanimous approval and faces resistance in some capitals, including Berlin. In Asia, key U.S. partners including Japan and South Korea have also stopped short of committing ships.
“Some are very enthusiastic, and some are less than enthusiastic, and I assume some will not do it,” Trump told reporters in Washington on March 16 when asked about countries that would respond to his ask. “They should be jumping to help us because we’ve helped them for years stay out of wars.”
The reluctance is hardly surprising. Without an end to the war with Iran, reopening the narrow waterway would require the kind of multinational effort Trump has often derided, leaving him reliant on partners he has spent years pressuring over trade, defense spending and democratic norms. Some doubt it is even possible as long as Iran can menace shipping. But bringing allies in would spread the risks — and the political blame — for a crisis that has sent oil prices soaring.
“Washington is discovering exactly how much goodwill it has burned in previous years,” said Rachel Rizzo, a senior fellow specializing in transatlantic relations at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi. “Allies already know what it feels like to have the U.S. threaten to pull out of NATO and hit Europe with undeserved tariffs. How much worse can it really get?”
European Reluctance Mounts
Trump still has plenty of leverage to get some kind of help, but his argument that the U.S. shouldn’t bear the burden of protecting a route that largely supplies energy to other major economies has proven a tough sell. European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels said they did not want to escalate the conflict. Several governments signaled they had no plans to send ships to escort tankers through the strait.
Trump said he spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron on March 15 and rated his helpfulness as an 8 on a scale from 1 to 10: “I don’t do a hard sell on them, because my attitude is, we don’t need anybody.”
The hesitation follows months of clashes between Trump and European leaders over tariffs, Greenland and NATO allies’ defense spending. More recently, European nations supporting Ukraine have been dismayed as the Trump administration issued sanctions waivers to Russia in a bid to control oil prices.
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“There’s a limit to how many times Trump can use specific threats before those threats start to lose meaning,” Rizzo said. “European allies have become stronger and more self-sufficient and are less susceptible to U.S. pressure campaigns.”
Britain, the closest U.S. military ally in Europe, has said it won’t join offensive operations against Iran, although it’s letting the U.S. use its bases to strike missile sites. Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters on March 16 that the U.K. was working with security partners to draft a “viable collective plan” to reopen the strait.
“We will not be drawn into the wider war,” Starmer said during a press conference in Downing Street. “Ultimately we have to open the Strait of Hormuz. That is not a simple task.”
Starmer at Downing Street in London on March 16. (Chris J. Ratcliffe/Bloomberg)
A few hours later, Trump reserved his harshest criticism for the U.K. leader, saying he was “very surprised” that when a U.S. request was made two weeks ago for two aircraft carriers Starmer “really didn’t want to do it.”
“I was not happy with the U.K.,” the president told reporters. “I think they’ll be involved. Yeah, maybe. But they should be involved enthusiastically.”
Publicly, European governments have avoided rejecting Trump outright. Britain is exploring whether to contribute autonomous mine-hunting drones to U.S. efforts, while officials in countries including Poland and Lithuania say they would consider the proposal if it were formally raised within NATO.
Others have been more direct. “We must not do anything that adds even more tension or escalation,” Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said March 16 in Brussels.
Some officials say additional European ships would do little to change the military balance. Vessels could take weeks to reach the region and would add little beyond the substantial U.S. naval presence already there.
Europeans and some Gulf states are unconvinced by Trump’s suggestion that allied navies could escort commercial vessels through the strait. It would likely be too dangerous for either military or commercial crews who could come under attack from Iran, one official said. Even if it could be done relatively safely, neither the U.S. nor its allies had sufficient naval assets to escort enough ships to meaningfully unblock the strait, they said.
“I wonder what is Trump expecting from a handful of European frigates which the mighty U.S. Navy cannot achieve there on its own,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters in Berlin on March 16.
Washington’s shifting message has left European officials struggling to keep up. As recently as last week, Trump told Group of Seven leaders the U.S. didn’t need help with Iran and that ships could transit the strait safely, according to European officials. Now he’s warning that NATO could face consequences if members refuse his plea for help.
Some European officials worry that if the strait stays closed and oil prices keep climbing, Trump could shift the blame onto allies for failing to step in. Others say Washington may ultimately have to reopen the waterway itself or find a diplomatic offramp. As one official put it privately, the crisis was largely of Washington’s own making — meaning the U.S. may have to take the lead in resolving it.
Asian Allies Hold Back
In Asia, the response has been similarly noncommittal. Trump has urged countries including China, Japan and South Korea to send naval forces to help reopen the waterway and has threatened to delay a planned summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping if Beijing does not assist.
Japan illustrates why Trump expects help. The country gets about 95% of its crude oil from the Middle East and fields one of the world’s most capable navies. Even so, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who is due to meet Trump this week in Washington, said Tokyo has “not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships.” The request also follows a period of tense ties with Beijing, when Trump offered only limited public backing for Tokyo as China increased pressure.
South Korea faces a similar predicament. Like Japan, it depends heavily on Middle Eastern energy and maintains a security alliance with Washington. But officials in Seoul have been cautious, saying the government is reviewing Trump’s request and coordinating with the U.S. The hesitation comes as Washington shifts some air-defense assets from South Korea to the Middle East.
A man walks along the shore in Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, as oil tankers and cargo ships line up in the Strait of Hormuz on March 11. (Altaf Qadri/Associated Press)
The war is controversial in both countries, and their leaders are uneasy about supporting “a war waged without U.N. authorization that does not directly affect their national security,” said Jeremy Chan, a senior analyst at Eurasia Group and a former U.S. diplomat. Both Japan and South Korea say they have not received a formal U.S. request to deploy ships to the region.
China presents a different challenge. Trump’s appeal to Beijing was notable: while China has experience with anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden, it is neither a U.S. ally nor an obvious participant in a Western naval coalition.
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Beijing also has close ties with Tehran and relies heavily on Iranian oil, making it unlikely to support U.S. military operations. Foreign Ministry spokespeople have sidestepped questions about whether China would send ships.
Governments across the region are also wary of becoming entangled in a widening conflict whose objectives remain unclear.
“Countries do not want to be dragged unnecessarily into a conflict situation that may put their troops and assets in harm’s way,” said Dylan Loh, an associate professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. “The lack of a clear endgame or plan would also factor into their thinking.”
