US President Donald Trump has taken another swipe at Australia for refusing to aid his war effort in Iran.
Mr Trump made the remarks about Australia during a White House press conference overnight, where he directly called out a number of allies who he claimed “didn’t help”.
“Japan didn’t help us, Australia didn’t help us, South Korea didn’t help us, and then you get to NATO. NATO didn’t help us,” he said.
He made the comments in response to a question about the NATO alliance, which he described as a “paper tiger”.
The US leader has frequently taken to social media to share his frustrations with Iran, as well as NATO countries and Asia-Pacific allies – including singling out Australia twice before – for refusing to aid his war effort, including the provision of a naval coalition to help re-open the Strait of Hormuz.
Australia has insisted there has been no such request.
Attorney-General Michelle Rowland told Seven’s Sunrise on Tuesday: “the United States, of course, is one of our longest and most important allies, but … Australia is not taking offensive action in this war.”
The military assets sent to the United Arab Emirates were granted in response to requests from the Gulf states, she said.
“And it’s designed to protect Australian citizens who are there.”
Australia has sent a RAAF E7A Wedgetail spy plane, medium range air-to-air missiles, and some ADF personnel to the Gulf.
It has also participated in Britain-led crisis talks to discuss what diplomatic and political measures can be taken to re-open the shipping channel. That meeting included more than 40 countries but excluded the US.
Mr Trump’s recent criticism of allies comes just a day after he threatened to attack Iranian infrastructure in an expletive-laden post on Truth Social, writing: “Open the F****n’ Strait, you crazy b*******, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah,” pointing to Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!” he wrote.
Critics of his social media tirade have suggested Mr Trump should have his mental health examined, but he shrugged off the comments, telling reporters: “I don’t care about critics … I haven’t heard that.”
About a third of the world’s oil supply travels through the Strait of Hormuz. Disruptions to the channel, and to the wider Middle East region – which is a major producer of crude oil – have triggered global energy shocks and sent fuel prices skyrocketing, sparking fears of global shortages.
Mr Trump has given Iran until April 8 to re-open the channel, or else face a wider bombing campaign from the US.
He has claimed possible targets may include electricity and water plants, which legal experts have flagged could breach international law.
Iran has rejected a 45-day ceasefire proposal, saying it wants a permanent end to the war.
‘End as soon as possible’
Later, Nationals leader Matt Canavan reiterated calls for the war to come to an end, citing the “horrific impact on human lives and the world economy”.
He branded Mr Trump’s statements in recent weeks as “wild and weird” but urged focus to remain on bringing the conflict to a close.
“Australia has done things to, to help, and I think we should help our friends in the region,” he told Sky News.
“But this is not a conflict we started. We weren’t consulted before the conflict did start. Now our interests are in seeing it end as soon as possible.”
Mr Trump has previously told allies it is up to them to secure the Strait of Hormuz, but Senator Canavan cast doubt on the ease of this task, when asked if the Albanese government should take a more active role in re-opening the shipping route.
“The US navy are not putting ships into the Strait, presumably because the risk of doing that is far too great,” he said.
“People I read and respect seem to think that there’s only two ways of opening this Strait, and one is to come to some diplomatic agreement, which these discussions seem to be ongoing, and I hope they do bring fruit.
“The other way is we’d presumably need to have access to land on both sides of the Strait, given how narrow it is, which would mean a ground invasion of Iran, which is a mammoth, mammoth task that I’m not sure whether anyone would do right now.”
