00:00U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he is considering pulling his country out of NATO,
00:06describing the transnational alliance as a paper tiger.
00:10I would say it's beyond reconsideration, he said in remarks to the UK daily The Telegraph.
00:16Trump has repeatedly railed against Western partners for not responding to his call
00:20to assemble a naval force to help reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz,
00:25which has effectively been closed by Tehran as the war in the Middle East continues to drag on.
00:31Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer came to NATO's defence on Tuesday.
00:36NATO is the single most effective military alliance the world has ever seen,
00:41and it has kept us safe for many decades, and we are fully committed to NATO.
00:47Earlier on Tuesday, it was revealed that Italy had denied an U.S. aircraft permission to land
00:54while it was on the way to the Middle East for a combat mission.
00:58On Monday, Spain closed its airspace to U.S. planes carrying out missions against Iran.
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