US strongly considering NATO exit, Trump says

US President Donald Trump
President Donald Trump has dismissed the NATO alliance as a "paper tiger" that lacks credibility. -EPA

US President Donald Trump is strongly considering pulling the United ‌States out of NATO after allies ‌failed to back US military action against Iran, according to an interview with Britain's Daily Telegraph.

Trump ‌described the ‌alliance ⁠as a "paper tiger" and ​said removing the United States from the defence pact was now "beyond reconsideration", the newspaper reported. 

He said he ⁠had ‌long held ​doubts about NATO's credibility.

"Oh yes, ​I would ‌say (it's) beyond reconsideration," Trump told the ​newspaper when asked about whether he would reconsider US membership ​of ​the alliance ​after the conflict.

"I ‌was never swayed by NATO. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows ​that too, by the ​way."