US President Donald Trump has told NATO chief Mark Rutte he was "let down" by members of the transatlantic alliance who did not back his war against Iran.
"We were let down. We didn't need help on this at all. We demolished (Iran) literally in the first week but it would have been nice if they would have said, 'We'd like to help,'" Trump said during a meeting with Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House.
For his part, Rutte defended the conduct of NATO countries, saying there were 4,000 to 5,000 "US planes taking off from bases in Europe" during the war.
The NATO chief then told journalists after the meeting that Trump is "completely committed to the NATO alliance" and that Washington would "absolutely" protect Europe in the event of an attack.
Commitment to the alliance questioned
Trump's criticism of NATO comes just two weeks before leaders from the 32 member nations are set to meet for a July 7-8 summit in the Turkish capital of Ankara.
Trump's second term has been marked by tensions with NATO allies, including over Greenland, which the US president threatened to annex before backing down in January after weeks of threats.
Washington has also been clear with Europe that it wants NATO allies on the continent to take over primary responsibility for their own conventional defence as Washington's focus shifts towards China.
As part of that process, the Pentagon has already told allies it is reducing the number of assets worldwide that it makes available for NATO operations.
The US move has sparked fear it could leave Europe vulnerable in the face of an aggressive Russia as allies still rely on Washington for key weaponry.
