{"id":205584,"date":"2026-03-28T01:07:33","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T01:07:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-says-nato-made-terrible-mistake-in-not-backing-iran-war-live-updates-usa-today\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T01:07:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T01:07:33","slug":"trump-says-nato-made-terrible-mistake-in-not-backing-iran-war-live-updates-usa-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-says-nato-made-terrible-mistake-in-not-backing-iran-war-live-updates-usa-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump says NATO made 'terrible mistake' in not backing Iran war. Live updates. – USA Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump<\/a> suggested the United States does not have to back up NATO after the organization did not want to get involved in the war with Iran.
Trump, speaking at an economic event in Miami, said world leaders’ biggest mistake right now is \u201cnot sticking together,\u201d pointing to NATO.
“NATO made a terrible mistake when they wouldn’t send a small amount of military armament, when they wouldn’t send just even acknowledge what we were doing for the world and taking on Iran,\u201d Trump said.
The United States is weighing deploying 10,000 additional troops to the Middle East, multiple news outlets reported, as Trump again delayed striking Iran\u2019s energy systems and Israel vowed to \u201cexpand\u201d its air campaign against the Islamic Republic.
It remains unclear when a decision will be made on whether to send the additional combat soldiers to the region, according to\u00a0Axios<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0The Wall Street Journal<\/a>, which first reported the potential reinforcements. Thousands of U.S. soldiers, including Marines, elite paratroopers and sailors have already been deployed to the region.
On Thursday, Trump extended a deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, citing \u201cproductive\u201d talks. Iran publicly dismissed a U.S. framework to end the war, but U.S. and Pakistani officials confirmed backchannel negotiations are underway. Despite the diplomatic efforts, Israel\u2019s defense minister on Friday vowed to \u201cintensify and expand\u201d strikes on Iran.
As the war nears the one-month mark, the death toll across the Middle East continues to mount, with thousands killed in Iran and Lebanon, where Israel has surged ground troops. Dozens in other Middle East countries have been killed, including Israel, and 13 U.S. service members are among the dead. Iran, meanwhile, has maintained control over the Strait of Hormuz, raising energy prices globally.
Gas prices remained high as a result of the war although they fell marginally on average. The national average was $3.978 per gallon on Friday morning, according to AAA.
Rebecca Morin
President Donald Trump suggested the United States does not have to back up NATO after the organization did not want to get involved in the war with Iran.
Trump, during a Q&A portion of an economic speech in Miami, said world leaders’ biggest mistake right now is \u201cnot sticking together,\u201d pointing to NATO.
“NATO made a terrible mistake when they wouldn’t send a small amount of military armament, when they wouldn’t send just even acknowledge what we were doing for the world and taking on Iran,\u201d Trump said.
The president went on to suggest that the United States won\u2019t support NATO.
\u201cI think a tremendous mistake was when NATO just wasn’t there, they just weren’t there,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s going to make a lot of money for the United States, because we spend hundreds of billions of dollars a year on NATO, hundreds protecting them. And we would have always been there for them, but now, based on their actions, I guess we don’t have to be, do we?\u201d
Rebecca Morin
President Donald Trump on Friday praised leaders of several Middle Eastern countries for stepping up to help fight against Iran.
During an economic speech in Miami, Trump called Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman a \u201cfriend.\u201d \u201cHe\u2019s a warrior,” Trump said, adding that the crown prince was not afraid of Iran. \u201cFrankly, he should have been afraid of them because they’re very powerful.\u201d
Trump also praised United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Qatar’s Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
\u201cThese are three great people, and they were under tremendous attack, unexpected attack, and they weren’t thinking this was going to happen,\u201d Trump said.
The president also thanked other countries, such as Turkey and Indonesia, for stepping into to help with the war \u2013 while taking a hit at NATO.\u00a0
\u201cYou learn who your friends are,\u201d Trump said.
Francesca Chambers
President Trump referred to the Strait of Hormuz as the “Strait of Trump” while speaking at a Saudi-backed conference for investors on Friday evening. He suggested the aside in his remarks was intended as a joke.
“Excuse me. I’m so sorry, such a terrible mistake,” Trump said sarcastically. “There’s no accidents with me, not too many, if there were, we’d have a major story,” Trump followed up.
The Strait of Hormuz is a vital shipping lane in the Middle East that Iran has effectively closed.
Francesca Chambers
Trump said Friday evening\u00a0during remarks to a Saudi-backed investment forum that the United States was ending Iran’s “nuclear blackmail” with its bombing campaign and had undercut Tehran’s ability to bully other nations.
“It was nuclear blackmail for years and years, and beyond that, it was blackmail period,” Trump said in remarks to the Future Investment Initiative.
The president said that Iran is “on the run” because of the U.S. military operation.
Cybele Mayes-Osterman
Iran and the United States have yet to find common ground to move to the next step towards negotiations, a regional official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Iran has submitted to mediators five or six conditions it would need to stop the fighting, the official said. It has not fully responded to the 15 points that the United States has proposed as its own conditions to end the war, the official said.
Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt are involved in attempts to mediate, they added.
Andrea Riquier
Stocks tumbled Friday, sending two of the major U.S. indexes into correction territory, which is defined as a decline of more than 10% from a recent peak. The Dow lost 1.7% to close about 10% off its most recent high, while the Nasdaq lost about 2.2% Friday, taking it more than 11% lower than its October 2025 peak. The broad S&P 500 was down 1.7% for the day.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury note, meanwhile, rose 2 basis points to about 4.44%. That was off an earlier high of 4.48%, but still shows that fixed income assets have a hard path ahead in a higher inflation environment.
Investors are selling bonds, which offer fixed streams of income that become less valuable as the Iran war raises prices for everything from energy to food. Bond prices move in the opposite direction as yields, since debt issuers have to pay higher rates to attract investors.
Higher bond yields ripple through all kinds of credit markets, making everything from mortgages<\/a> to small-business loans more expensive. The prospect of a cooling economy alongside high inflation, touched off by an oil shock, has many analysts comparing the current period to the 1970s.
Crude oil was up about 4% to nearly $113 a barrel, although gas prices are holding steady near $3.967 a gallon, according to GasBuddy’s nationwide average tracker.
The VIX, a measure of volatility that some refer to as Wall Street’s “fear gauge,” throttled more than 14% higher. At just over 31, it’s close to a level that’s prompted policymakers to make changes in previous volatile episodes.
Bart Jansen
Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed criticism of the United States and Israel from Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi\u00a0to the United Nations Human Rights Commission.
\u201cHe\u2019s an expert in genocide,\u201d Rubio said. \u201cThey\u2019re experts in that because they\u2019ve sponsored terrorism throughout the world and they\u2019ve killed thousands and thousands of people.\u201d
Rubio said every problem in the Middle East tracks back to Iran, whether Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, Shia militias in Iraq or the Houthis in Yemen.
\u201cThey are a destabilizing, dangerous, evil force that had to be dealt with,\u201d Rubio said.
Bart Jansen
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there would be no need for ground troops to achieve U.S. goals in Iran, despite the assignment of thousands more troops to the Middle East.
\u201cThis is not going to be a prolonged conflict,\u201d Rubio said.
The U.S. goals are to destroy Iran\u2019s navy, air force and factories for building missiles and drones, and to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon, Rubio said.
\u201cWe are achieving all those objectives without any ground troops,\u201d Rubio said. \u201cThe president needs to be prepared for multiple contingencies.\u201d
Bart Jansen
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said one of the immediate challenges after the war ends is that Iran could move to being tolling shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
\u201cThe whole world should be outraged by it,\u201d Rubio said Friday after attending a meeting of foreign ministers from the G7 nations in France. \u201cThose countries that are deeply impacted by it, all we\u2019ve said is, \u2018You guys need to do something about it. We\u2019ll help you.\u2019\u201d
Rubio argued that after military action ceases against Iran, ships would still seek military escorts or they would be unable to get insurance. He said European countries appeared willing to contribute to defending shipping and preventing Iran from charging financial tolls.
\u201cNot only is this illegal, it\u2019s unacceptable,\u201d Rubio said.
Christopher Cann
The Israeli military on Friday warned residents in the Iranian city of Arak to evacuate as it ramps up airstrikes.
“The Israeli Army, continuing its actions in recent days across Iran to strike the military infrastructure of the Iranian regime, will conduct operations in these areas in the coming hours,” the Israeli military said in a post on X<\/a>.
“Dear Citizens, for the sake of your safety and well-being, we kindly request that you immediately evacuate the aforementioned designated areas indicated on the map.”
Arak, which is about a three-hour drive southwest of Tehran, has an estimated population of nearly 600,000 residents.
Rachel Barber
The closely watched\u00a0University of Michigan\u00a0Consumer Sentiment Index\u00a0fell to\u00a053.3 in March<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0lower\u00a0than its preliminary estimate of 55.5 two weeks ago\u00a0\u2013\u00a0and\u00a0down from 56.6 in February and 57 this time last year. Of those surveyed, expectations for gas prices surged, and inflation predictions rose following the start of\u00a0the Iran war\u00a0on Feb. 28.
While sentiment declined across age groups and political affiliations, “consumers with middle and higher incomes and stock wealth, buffeted by both escalating\u00a0gas prices<\/a>\u00a0and volatile\u00a0financial markets<\/a>\u00a0in the wake of the Iran conflict, exhibited particularly large drops,” according to Joanne Hsu, director of the Michigan surveys.
The\u00a0index of consumer expectations, a related measure that reflects\u00a0consumers\u2019 prospects for their own financial situation\u00a0and the general economy over the near and long term,\u00a0fell\u00a0to\u00a051.7 in March, down from 56.6 in February.
Jana Winter and A.J. Vicens
Iran-linked hackers have publicly claimed \u200cthe breach of FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal inbox, publishing photographs of \u200bthe director and his purported \u200bresume to the internet.
On their website, \u2060the hacker group Handala Hack \u200bTeam said Patel “will now find his \u200bname among the list of successfully hacked victims.”
Reuters was not able to immediately \u200bauthenticate the emails published by \u200bHanadala, but a sample of the material uploaded \u200cby \u2060the hackers and reviewed by Reuters appears to show a mix of personal and work correspondence \u200bdating between \u200b2010 \u2060and 2019.
A Justice Department official confirmed to Reuters that \u200bPatel’s emails were compromised but \u200bdid \u2060not go into detail. The FBI did not immediately respond to \u2060a \u200brequest for comment. The \u200bhackers did not immediately respond to messages.
Christopher Cann
Israel\u2019s defense minister warned that his country will \u201cintensify and expand\u201d strikes on Iran, citing continued missile fire targeting Israeli civilians. The promise of more aerial attacks comes despite U.S. President Donald Trump saying there are ongoing diplomatic negotiations to end the war.
\u201cThe prime minister and I warned the Iranian terror regime to stop the missile fire toward the civilian population in Israel,\u201d said Israel Katz on Friday. \u201cDespite the warnings, the fire continues, and therefore IDF strikes in Iran will intensify and expand to additional targets and domains that assist the regime in building and operating weapons against Israeli civilians.\u201d
So far in the war, more than 1,900 people have died in Iran and eighteen people have been killed in Israel. The Israeli military said it was striking targets in the Iranian capital of Tehran on Friday.
Christopher Cann
The Pentagon is weighing sending an additional 10,000 troops to the Middle East as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran rages, multiple news outlets reported.
It remains unclear when a decision will be made on whether to send the additional combat soldiers to the region, according to Axios<\/a> and The Wall Street Journal<\/a>, which first reported that the Trump administration was considering the reinforcements.
Thousands of U.S. soldiers, including Marines, elite paratroopers and sailors are already on their way to the region.
Andrea Riquier
Oil jumped, stocks fell and yields rose as a prominent economist pronounced himself \u201cworried\u201d on Friday.
Prices for brent crude, the global oil benchmark, hovered around $110 a barrel Friday morning, while bond yields shot up. The 10-year U.S. note added 6 basis points to 4.48%, the highest since last summer.
Investors are selling bonds, which offer fixed streams of income that become less valuable as the Iran war raises prices for everything from energy to food. When bond prices go down, their yields go up. On March 26, for example, the U.S. government had to pay a higher yield<\/a>on 7-year notes to attract wary buyers.
Stocks are also slumping in anticipation of higher interest rates, a more stagnant economy \u2013 or both. The S&P 500 opened about 0.8% lower, the Dow lost 0.9%, and the Nasdaq fell a full percentage point at the start of trading.
\u201cThere are ways for an economy to manage short-term disruptions (eg, drawing on consumer saving and inventories),\u201d said Don Rissmiller, chief economist at Strategas, in a Friday morning note. \u201cBut it now looks like the conflict in the Middle East will stretch into early April. Delays at this point may be better news than attacks, but they are not good news.\u201d
Bart Jansen
Antony Blinken, who was former President Joe Biden\u2019s secretary of state, denied supporting the war in Iran as President Donald Trump alleged.
Trump told Republican lawmakers at a fundraiser on Wednesday that Blinken said the Biden administration should have attacked Iran earlier, but \u201cthey made a mistake.\u201d
But Blinken posted his disputed comments<\/a> on Thursday from an interview at Harvard\u2019s Institute of Politics, where he said Trump shouldn\u2019t have withdrawn from a pact the Obama administration negotiated to restrict Iran\u2019s development of nuclear weapons.
Blinken said the Democratic administrations considered military action but didn\u2019t pursue it because Iran could retaliate and bury its nuclear program deeper underground. The agreement called for monitoring that could alert the U.S. if Iran got close to developing a nuclear weapon. Instead, 13 U.S. servicemembers are dead, hundreds were wounded, Iran remains under a repressive regime and fuel prices have risen, Blinken said.
\u201cThe Obama Administration put Iran\u2019s nuclear program in a box, President Trump let it out,\u201d Blinken said in his post. \u201cSo no, I would not have done it.\u201d
Bart Jansen
Germany\u2019s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio his country was willing to play a role in ensuring safe shipping through the Strait of Hormuz after hostilities with Iran end.
Wadephul also accused Russia of helping Iran identify potential U.S. targets. Wadephul told reporters on Thusday at a meeting of democratic countries with the largest economies in France that Russia\u2019s President Vladimir Putin was hoping to use the Iran war as a distraction from his attack on Ukraine.
“Putin cynically hopes that the escalation in the Middle East will divert our attention from his crimes in Ukraine,” Wadephul said. “This calculation must not succeed.\u201d
Michael Loria
Attendees in Texas for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference rallied behind Trump\u2019s war effort, mainly.
“The madness needs to stop,” CPAC senior fellow and former senior advisor to Trump, Mercedes Schlapp, said in apparent reference to the Iranian regime. “We’ve got to make Iran free again and we are going to make sure America stands strong by their side.”
Some prominent figures however voiced concern the war will go too far.
“A ground invasion of Iran will make our country poorer and less safe,” said former Congressman Matt Gaetz. “It will mean higher gas prices, higher food prices. And I’m not sure if we would end up killing more terrorists than we would create.”
Contributing by Reuters<\/em>
Cybele Mayes-Osterman
The U.S. military is using driverless drone speedboats to patrol the water in the Middle East, according to a statement from Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command.
The use of the boats was first\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0by Reuters.
The boats, officially called Global Autonomous Reconnaissance Craft, or GARC, have patrolled for more than 450 hours and more than 2,200 nautical miles since the war began, Hawkins said in the statement. They are “part of a fleet” of drone vessels that “enhance awareness of what\u2019s happening in regional waters,” he said.
Michael Loria
Nearly 15% of the civilian casualties in Iran of the war are children, according to Human Rights Activists News Agency, a U.S.-based group focused on human rights issues in Iran.
According to the group, there have been 1,492 civilian casualties since the launch of the war. Among confirmed civilian casualties, 221 are children, the group said.\u00a0
The group has kept a running tally<\/a> of the number of people killed in Iran. According to the group, there have been 1,167 military fatalities and 670 unclassified deaths.\u00a0
Fatalities data, the group says, is based on a range of sources, including sources among medical workers, publicly available images and official statements.<\/p>\n

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President Donald Trump suggested the United States does not have to back up NATO after the organization did not want to get involved in the war with Iran.Trump, speaking at an economic event in Miami, said world leaders’ biggest mistake right now is \u201cnot sticking together,\u201d pointing to NATO.“NATO made a terrible mistake when they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":205585,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-205584","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}