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Whitaker to Newsmax: Europeans Like 'to Admire Problems'

By Jim Mishler | Monday, 16 March 2026 06:48 PM EDT

U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker told Newsmax on Monday that European leaders' failure to support President Donald Trump militarily against Iran shows their tendency to "admire problems."

"This is a favorite thing of the Europeans to do, and that is to admire problems and to talk about them," Whitaker told "Ed Henry The Big Take."

Whitaker accused allied nations of wanting the spoils of victory without making an effort.

"Right now, the president has taken decisive action that ultimately will lead to peace in the Middle East and will offer security and economic stability for decades to come at the end of this," he said.

"And, you know, I think a lot of these allies are afraid to take any kind of risk. You know, they want obviously something handed to them on a platter."

Trump told reporters on Monday that he wants nations to help police the Strait of Hormuz after Iran responded to U.S.-Israeli attacks by using drones, missiles, and mines to effectively close the channel for tankers that usually transport a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas.

"Some are very enthusiastic about it, and some aren't. Some are countries that we've helped for many, many years," he said.

"We've protected them from horrible outside sources, and they weren't that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm matters to me," Trump said at an event at the White House.

Whitaker said Trump's moves against Iran will be proven to be decisive.

"President Trump is a bold leader, and he knew that the status quo was no longer acceptable — an Iran that menaces its neighbors, as we're seeing now, lashing out against a lot of neighbors that have done nothing to them and, at the same time, trying to hold the world hostage by developing a nuclear weapon. And so President Trump took action," he said.

"We're two weeks in. Everybody is tut-tutting and sort of worrying about the 'right now.' But, you know, in the next few weeks, as President Trump executes, together with our brave men and women in the military, you're going to see a big change in the Middle East."

Whitaker said the end result will be noteworthy.

"I think it's going to be a dramatic improvement from where we were a few short weeks ago," he said.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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