Yes, President Trump Can Withdraw from NATO
He has the constitutional authority to do so. That doesn’t mean he should.
The Iran war has had the unintended consequence of undermining the West’s preeminent postwar alliance. Disappointed by the refusal of European allies to assist the United States, the Trump administration is floating the possibility of exiting the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Critics argue that the president cannot terminate a treaty on his own. But the Constitution is clear: Presidents can indeed unilaterally end U.S. participation in international agreements. If Donald Trump wants to tear up the NATO treaty, he can just do it. And in June, the Supreme Court may even provide implicit support for such an exercise of presidential power.
Just because Trump can take such action, however, doesn’t mean he should.
President Trump has grounds for questioning the loyalty of our European allies. Europeans can claim, correctly, that the Iran war does not fall within the geographic scope of the NATO treaty, just as with the Iraq war. Nevertheless, the United States could reasonably expect support against an Iranian enemy, motivated by religious fundamentalism, that can strike European capitals with ballistic missiles and choke off their oil imports from the Persian Gulf.
But instead of supporting the United States to some degree, Spain barred U.S. military aircraft from its bases and airspace. France denied launching rights for U.S. warplanes bound for Iran and overflight permission for U.S. supply planes bound for Israel; the United Kingdom refused to allow the U.S. to conduct “offensive” operations from bases within British territory; and Italy barred U.S. bombers from landing at its Sigonella airbase in Sicily. While other European nations have quietly assisted, as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte made clear in Washington, D.C., meetings last week, none have agreed to participate in operations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or protect civilian shipping.
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