"NATO allies benefit far more from reopening of Strait of Hormuz than US," says US White House Press Secretary

US White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that NATO allies stand to benefit far more than the United States from the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz adding that President Donald Trump expects European partners to ldquodo morerdquoLeavitt said the US has sufficient domestic oil resources due to Trumprsquos energy policiesldquoNATO allies benefit far more from the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz than the United States does As you know thanks to this presidentrsquos energy agenda we are a net exporter of oil We have enough resources here at home for our people and thatrsquos a good thingrdquo she saidldquoThe Straitrsquos opening is obviously good for America because it will stabilise the global oil industry and bring prices down But it greatly benefits Europe and our NATO allies and the president wants to see them do morerdquo she addedLeavitt also argued that NATO has at times been ldquounfairrdquo to the USldquoOne of the presidentrsquos guiding principles is fairness He has long called out NATO for being what he believes is sometimes an unfair alliance for the American taxpayer and military The billions of dollars we spend housing US troops in NATO countries benefit them by serving as a deterrent against adversariesrdquo she saidShe added that Trump has pushed for fairer trade arrangements with alliesldquoIf you look at our trade deals with many NATO allies the president and his team have worked to rectify them including new agreements with the UK and the EU The president wants all alliances to be fair for the American people and taxpayersrdquo she saidMeanwhile Leavitt said that more than 120 Iranian naval vessels had been destroyed in recent strikes citing US Central Command CENTCOMldquoMore than 120 naval vessels are at the bottom of the sea because of US armed forces Thatrsquos a great thing for the American people and our allies in the region Ensuring that Iran cannot possess a nuclear weapon has long been a priorityrdquo she said adding that ldquono options are off the tablerdquoldquoWe are ensuring that Iran can no longer threaten the United States and the US military is doing a tremendous job in achieving these objectivesrdquo she addedSeparately President Donald Trump criticised NATO allies for what he described as their reluctance to support the US in its ongoing conflict with Iran calling their stance a ldquovery foolish mistakerdquoSpeaking during a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheaacutel Martin at the White House Trump said NATO members supported US actions in principle but failed to provide tangible assistanceldquoWe donrsquot need too much helpmdashin fact we donrsquot need any help But all of our NATO allies were very much in favour of what we did They thought it was very important to take out the nuclear threat from Iran and wersquove done that very strongly and powerfullyrdquo Trump saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever