After launching military strikes Iran in late February, U.S. President Donald Trump expected the United States' European allies to help him militarily. Instead, leaders in Spain and other European countries voiced their opposition to the war; Trump responded by angrily berating them and threatened to withdraw the U.S. altogether from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). But the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway crucial to the flow of oil in the Middle East, is causing gas prices to soar in the U.S. and other countries. Now, according to the Daily Beast's Ewan Palmer, Trump is "desperately calling on other countries to help end the Strait of Hormuz crisis" — including those he has been insulting and berating."The Trump Administration is issuing a request for allies to join an international coalition, called the 'Maritime Freedom Construct,' to help reopen the vital shipping route and end the global oil crisis," Palmer explains in an article published on April 30. "The allies he is now begging for help are the same ones he has frequently attacked and threatened for refusing to get sucked into his war. A month ago, in his address to the nation, Trump declared that the Strait of Hormuz was not his problem and U.S. allies would need to resolve it themselves. Since then, oil prices have spiked to a four-year high and Trump's approval rating has hit record lows." The Wall Street Journal, on April 29, reported that the U.S. State Department, led by conservative former Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida), sent embassies a cable urging them to try to convince their governments to join the Maritime Freedom Construct coalition. The cable read, "Your participation will strengthen our collective ability to restore freedom of navigation and protect the global economy. Collective action is essential to demonstrate unified resolve and impose meaningful costs on Iranian obstruction of transit through the Strait."Palmer points out that Trump is "becoming increasingly isolated as some of the top U.S. allies, such as Canada, France, the U.K., and Germany, refuse to be dragged into the war in Iran or assist in reopening the Strait of Hormuz.""Last month," the Daily Beast reporter notes, "Trump told U.S. allies who are suffering an oil shortage because of the Iran war that they should 'just TAKE IT' themselves…. Trump has also threatened to remove U.S. troops from Germany after the country's chancellor said America was being 'humiliated' by Iran."