Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that if Europe won’t help open the Strait of Hormuz, we should pull our troops from Europe. He said that if Europe is just about the US defending Europe and not letting us use our bases for any other purpose, then the relationship has to be re-examined.
ICYMI 🔴
Secretary Rubio : “If Europe won’t allow us to use the bases we man and fund for their defense when we need them we ought to close them down and remove our troops from Europe.” pic.twitter.com/5VQJHt51Un
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) April 6, 2026
It’s not likely that Europe will bend. France and Japan might have made a side deal with Iran, though this is not confirmed. They did have vessels sail through the Strait three days ago.
John Bolton, awaiting trial for releasing secret information, posted on his X page the following:
The Europeans made a critical mistake by ignoring Iran and taking Trump’s bait by saying, “Iran is not our war.” Europe is well within range of Iran’s missiles. Its economies are threatened by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. They’ve given Trump the perfect opportunity to end US support of Ukraine.
Pulling out of NATO
As for pulling out of NATO, can the President withdraw the US from NATO? Congress says he can’t, but the Constitution appears to say otherwise. The Constitution doesn’t give the Senate a role in ending treaties, just making them. The Senate says the President can’t do it based on 22 U.S.C. § 1928f, which states the President “shall not” suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty except with two-thirds Senate consent or an Act of Congress. However, the Constitution does not appear to give them that power.