Colorado Representative Jason Crow took to X on May 12, 2026, to publicly challenge President Donald Trump’s handling of U.S. alliances during the ongoing Iran war, arguing that the administration’s approach is eroding the country’s standing on the world stage rather than strengthening it.
“America is safer & stronger when we have friends around the world,” Crow wrote in the post, “Trump is tearing up our alliances, making us weaker & more isolated.”
The post was accompanied by a video in which Crow expanded on what he described as the only viable path forward in the conflict. The full transcript of Crow’s remarks in the video reads:
“We have to reengage with our allies. Donald Trump has to stop demeaning and attacking NATO. And we have to build an international coalition of countries that are willing to join with us to secure the region, to stop the shooting, to actually secure passage through the straits, and get us back on track to a permanent and verifiable deal to prevent nuclear weapons from ever happening in Iran. But that so far has not happened.”
A Veteran Lawmaker’s Long-Running Critique
Crow, a former Army Ranger who served three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, has been among the most vocal critics of the Trump administration’s Iran war strategy since the conflict began on February 28, 2026. Crow has stated that Trump’s war “has cost the lives of U.S. service members, raised prices for Americans at home, damaged our alliances, and made us less safe,” and has repeatedly called on Congress to exercise its constitutional war powers authority to rein in the conflict.
Crow has argued that the administration “started a war without fully thinking it through, without bringing our allies along with us, without explaining to the American people, to Coloradans, to Congress, what they were doing.” He has also pointed to the durability of the adversary, noting that Iran is “a 6,000-year-old society, an adversary that believes that time is on its side and just wants to wait us out while we spend tens of billions of dollars with blockades and with enormous military presence.”
The War Powers Push
Crow’s May 12 post comes on the heels of a sustained legislative campaign to end what he and fellow Democratic veterans have called an unauthorized war. Crow and Congressman Seth Moulton introduced a War Powers Resolution designed to end the conflict in Iran and ensure the administration remains answerable to the American people and their representatives in Congress, a resolution cosponsored by eight other Democratic veterans.
House Republicans subsequently voted down that War Powers Resolution. Crow responded by calling the failure to end the conflict “a disgrace,” arguing that Americans are struggling to get by while the administration remains more focused on continuing a war “no one wants.”
Crow and Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, both members of their respective chambers’ Intelligence Committees, jointly urged Congress to pass a War Powers Resolution, stating that “Trump’s recklessness has produced multiple strategic failures that carry real human costs,” including the deaths of thirteen American service members, over 300 injured, tens of billions in taxpayer spending with no strategy, and severely damaged American alliances and credibility abroad.
The NATO Fault Line
Crow’s demand that Trump “stop demeaning and attacking NATO” reflects a broader and increasingly public rupture between Washington and its traditional allies. Trump rebuked NATO allies for refusing to join U.S.-led attacks on Iran, calling their decision a “very foolish mistake,” and issued a statement declaring that the United States “does not need the help of anyone” regarding the war.
Trump’s decision to leave NATO in the dark before launching strikes on Iran has inflamed tensions that had been simmering for months, compounding earlier disputes over his threats to seize control of Greenland and Canada, and repeated suggestions that the United States might withdraw from the alliance entirely. Ivo Daalder, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO under President Barack Obama, said that “something fundamental has broken,” adding that Trump does not appear to believe America’s security depends on the security of Europe.
Reports emerged that the Trump administration had drawn up a so-called “naughty and nice” list of NATO allies, with proposals including suspending Spain from NATO for refusing to allow U.S. military planes to fly over its airspace to attack Iran, and floating the idea of returning the Falkland Islands to Argentina as punishment for the United Kingdom’s refusal to provide its bases for the war effort.
The Coalition Crow Is Calling For
Rather than the unilateral approach the Trump administration has pursued, Crow is calling for a fundamentally different strategy — one built around multilateral cooperation and diplomacy. In his video remarks, he specifically called for building an international coalition to secure passage through the Strait of Hormuz and to reach what he described as “a permanent and verifiable deal to prevent nuclear weapons from ever happening in Iran.”
Some U.S. allies, including France and the United Kingdom, have held meetings about protecting safe and free transit in the Strait of Hormuz, with at least a dozen countries pledging military assets to a planned task force — though that effort has been conditioned on the war’s end. Trump reportedly called those NATO allies “useless” in response.
Crow’s broader argument — that diplomatic engagement and alliance maintenance are prerequisites for durable regional security — is one he has made consistently throughout the conflict, rooted in his background as a combat veteran who serves on both the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Armed Services Committee. He has framed the legislative push as a personal obligation, stating: “We have to end this cycle of insanity, and I’m here to say the buck stops with me. I’m going to do everything possible to rein in this endless cycle of conflict.”