NATO made history this week, agreeing to a massive hike in defense spending at its annual summit on Wednesday — but it was the "bromance" between President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte that stole the spotlight.
Rutte appeared to fawn over the U.S. president numerous times on Wednesday, both before and after the alliance issued its joint declaration announcing a defense spending hike to 5% of individual members' GDPs by 2035. Rutte said Trump "deserves all the praise" for getting allies to invest more in security after years of pressure.
"This would not have happened if you would not have been elected in 2016 and re-elected last year ... so I want to thank you," Rutte told Trump at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, further lauding the president as a "man of strength ... and peace" and praising his "decisive" intervention in the Iran-Israel conflict.
As Trump compared the Middle Eastern adversaries to "two kids in a school yard" who "fight like hell," Rutte interjected, laughing: "And then daddy has to sometimes use strong language to get them to stop."
Rutte also publicly repeated previously private comments made to Trump — which the president had posted on his Truth Social site — in which he congratulated the U.S. leader for his "decisive action in Iran, that was truly extraordinary, and something no one else dared to do."
'Daddy' issues
There was no way that journalists were going to let Rutte get away with alluding to Trump as "Daddy" without further comment. As a press conference kicked off after the joint declaration, Sky News honed in on their relationship rather than on the post-summit communique.
"The language that you have used when talking to Donald Trump has been notable because of its flattery. Today you called him 'daddy,' and you sent a text message to him that was gushing with praise," Sky News' Security and Defense Editor Deborah Haynes said, going on to question whether it wasn't "a bit demeaning."
Rutte, a seasoned diplomat known as a consensus builder during his extensive previous stint as the Dutch prime minister, was unrepentant, responding that it was "a question of taste" and that the Washington leader was "a good friend."
"Would you ever think that this would be the result of this summit if [Trump] would not have been re-elected president? Do you really think that the seven or eight countries who said 'yes, somewhere in the 2030s we might meet the 2%' [would have got there without Trump]? ... So doesn't he deserves some praise?" Rutte asked.
He added, "When it comes to Iran, the fact that he took this decisive action, very targeted, to make sure that Iran would not be able to get his hands on a nuclear capability, I think he deserves all the praise."
Haynes later asked Trump the same question, in response to which the White House leader said that Rutte "likes me, I think he likes me, if he doesn't I'll let you know." He added that the remark was "very affectionate."
'Predictable' Trump
Trump had caused a stir on his way to the 2025 NATO summit, appearing to suggest that NATO's Article 5 principle of mutual and collective defense was open to interpretation. Rutte spent a considerable amount of time at NATO's various press conferences defending Trump and the U.S.' commitment to the alliance.
"I've now known for almost 10 years. He's a good friend. I trust him," Rutte said. "I think he is a man of strength, but also a man of peace ... And I think this is exactly what you want the American President to do, provide that type of leadership. And so, I find him very predictable."
Rutte was asked by the Washington Post whether the new 5% spending pledge — made up of 3.5% to be spent on "pure" military capabilities and 1.5% on security-related infrastructure — was just about "keeping Trump happy."
"There is this U.S. request, 'please equalize, because it's not fair that we shoulder much more than the others are doing, and that we are carrying more weight than the others are doing' ... The U.S. has consistently had this request now for 60, 70 years. And finally, we will do it," the NATO chief concluded.