Middle Eastern countries should join Nato: Trump

“I think that Nato should be expanded and we should include the Middle East, absolutely,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he supported expanding the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) to include Middle Eastern nations, as the United States seeks to limit its troop footprint globally.

“I think that Nato should be expanded and we should include the Middle East, absolutely,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

Trump proposed increased Nato involvement in the Middle East on Wednesday, when he addressed the Iranian strikes against US troops in Iraq, carried out in retaliation for a US drone strike that killed a top Iranian military commander.

Trump said Daesh presented an international problem that other countries should help address. “We can come home, largely come home and use Nato,” Trump said.

Trump joked that the organisation could be called Nato-ME, or Nato plus the Middle East. He said he floated the possible name to Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in a call on Wednesday.

Source ; News Agencies