Washington Examiner chief political correspondent Byron York said a former Bush administration official is predicting a “shift in power” in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Ari Fleischer, former President George W. Bush’s first White House press secretary, said on X that NATO will “never be the same” once the U.S.’s war with Iran concludes. He said western European countries like Spain, England, France, and Italy have “sold us out,” whereas eastern European nations are “the heart of NATO.”
“Ari’s post set off a number of arguments, but clearly, what he was saying is that some of the western European NATO countries — France, Spain, the United Kingdom — by their initial refusal to cooperate with the United States in this, had really set a terrible precedent for themselves,” York said on Fox News’ Fox & Friends Monday.
“And here again, President Trump was not asking them to send troops, he was not asking them to engage in attacks, he was asking for overflight rights and the right to use airbases, which the United States basically finances anyway,” he said. “And yet those nations refused even that level of cooperation.”
York also said Fleischer was contrasting the Western European countries with those in Eastern Europe and their “cooperation” with the United States. York explained that Eastern European countries have “experienced Soviet domination” in recent years, and also know what it is like to be in close proximity to an enemy nation.
“So what Fleischer was saying is there could be big changes coming in NATO, a shift in power, some sort of change, but something is going on in NATO,” York said.
York added that President Donald Trump threatened to unleash “hell” if Iran doesn’t open the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday night. The president previously sought to have other countries police the strait if it were to reopen, and York said Trump is maintaining “unpredictability” over this, leaving Iran with “no idea” what the president will do.
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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) pushed back against Trump’s statements against NATO, saying the U.S. needs “more friends, not more adversaries.” He added that he hopes there will be a “bipartisan effort” to convince the Trump administration not to engage in a “reckless choice” by withdrawing from NATO.
Gas prices have drastically increased since the Iran war started in late February, and these prices could see little to no movement if a ceasefire ensues unless the strait is open and proves stable, according to experts.