Who?
Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) — Ranking Member, Appropriations Defense Subcommittee
LISTEN: Laslo & Coons
Ask a Pol asks:
What do you make of NATO allies being reluctant to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz after President Donald Trump and Israel attacked Iran?
Key Coons:
“That the President keeps disrespecting our NATO allies this way leads to the unsurprising result that when he didn’t consult with them before launching a war of choice with Iran, they don’t feel bought into opening the Strait of Hormuz,” Sen. Chris Coons exclusively tells Ask a Pol Politics.
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Caught our ear:
“The only time NATO has actually invoked Article 5 and deployed to war was in defense of us to Afghanistan,” Coons tells us.
What should we ask Congress next?
Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), slightly edited for clarity.
TRANSCRIPT: Sen. Chris Coons
SCENE: Ask a Pol founder Matt Laslo sidles up to Sen. Chris Coons as he’s walking to the US Capitol via an underground tunnel along with a couple staffers ahead of a Senate vote.
ICYMI — Coons, McConnell Statement on NATO (4-1-2026)
Once the Senator stops addressing his team, Laslo slides in…
Matt Laslo: What do you make of President Donald Trump threatening to ditch America’s NATO allies in future conflicts because they have refused to help provide the naval support to reopen the Strait of Hormuz?
Sen. Chris Coons: “The only time NATO has actually invoked Article 5 and deployed to war was in defense of us to Afghanistan.”
ML: “Huh.”
Coons: “A third of the combat deaths in Afghanistan were NATO troops. I led a bipartisan delegation to Denmark, and Sen. [Thom] Tillis and I laid a memorial wreath at the site that remembers the 52 Danes who died in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq.”
ML: “Yeah?”
Coons: “That the President keeps disrespecting our NATO allies this way leads to the unsurprising result that when he didn’t consult with them before launching a war of choice with Iran, they don’t feel bought into opening the Strait of Hormuz.”
ML: “Thank you, sir.”
With Coons moving away from his mic, Laslo repeats the last thing the Senator said.
ML: “Strait of Hormuz.”
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