Donald Trump’s threat to NATO didn’t appear to cut through some of his NATO allies. The US President said in a recent interview the Western alliance faces a “very bad future” if it fails to help the US during the Strait of Hormuz crisis.

However, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius appeared unfazed by the threat. He said: “What does (…) Donald Trump expect a handful or two handfuls of European frigates to do in the Strait of Hormuz that the powerful US Navy cannot do? This is not our war, we have not started it.” In a further blow to Mr Trump, Mr Pistorious added he does not anticipate NATO will fall apart over these differences.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Trump added, reiterating his lack of faith in NATO he already expressed in the past: “We’ll see if they help us. Because I’ve long said that we’ll be there for them but they won’t be there for us.”

The US President repeated his call for allied assistance in the Strait of Hormuz, saying: “It’s only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there.”

The strait is a vital shipping route for oil and gas. Following the beginning of the US and Israeli strikes on Iran, the regime has effectively closed the area to oil tankers, prompting fears of a major energy crisis.

Last week, Mr Trump called for the UK, China, France, Japan and South Korea to send ships to secure the route.

In a Truth Social post, he wrote: “Many countries, especially those who are affected by Iran’s attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending war ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the strait open and safe. We have already destroyed 100% of Iran’s military capability, but it’s easy for them to send a drone or two, drop a mine, or deliver a close-range missile somewhere along, or in, this waterway, no matter how badly defeated they are.

“Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a nation that has been totally decapitated.

“In the meantime, the United States will be bombing the hell out of the shoreline, and continually shooting Iranian boats and ships out of the water. One way or the other, we will soon get the Hormuz Strait OPEN, SAFE, and FREE!”

In the interview with the UK news outlet, Mr Trump also hit out once again at Sir Keir Starmer’s refusal to allow US forces to use UK bases in the initial wave of attacks against Iran, codenamed Operation Epic Fury.

He said: “The UK might be considered the number one ally, the longest serving et cetera and when I asked for them to come, they didn’t want to come. And as soon as we basically wiped out the danger capacity from Iran, they said, ‘oh well we’ll send two ships’, and I said, ‘we need these ships before we win, not after we win’. I’ve long said that Nato is a one-way street.”

In a press conference today, Sir Keir said he is working with allies on a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and set out measures to ease the cost-of-living pressures in the UK, with a plan to help households reliant on heating oil.