Tipsheet

NATO Secretary-General Did Not Just Say That to Trump

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  June 25, 2025 10:00 PM

President Trump’s trip to the NATO Summit is over. We learned that the Trump administration will be launching a probe with the Federal Bureau of Investigation into a leak of a top-secret, low-confidence report that showed Operation Midnight Hammer—the air strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities—were virtually ineffective. He also got the NATO secretary-general, Mark Rutte, to call him “daddy.” I’m not kidding (via ABC News):

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte called President Donald Trump "Daddy" on Wednesday, reacting to the president's recent use of expletives when he accused Iran and Israel of violating a ceasefire agreement. 

Early Wednesday morning during a bilateral meeting between Trump and Rutte during the NATO Summit in The Hague, Netherlands, Trump likened the countries of Israel and Iran to "two kids in a schoolyard" that had a "big fight." 

"You know, they fight like hell. You can't stop them. Let them fight for about two-three minutes, then it's easy to stop them," he continued. 

Rutte raised eyebrows when he interjected, "Daddy has to sometimes use strong language to get them to stop." 

"You have to use strong language," Trump agreed. "Every so often you have to use a certain word." 

Trump ran with it, and it was priceless. Mr. Rutte later tried to walk the remarks back, but it’s done, sir. It’s over. Trump is NATO’s Daddy now (via The Hill):

 NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte sought to clarify an eyebrow-raising comment he made during a bilateral news conference with President Trump on Wednesday: He doesn’t consider the U.S. leader “daddy” and was making a reference in jest. 

“The daddy thing, I didn’t call him ‘daddy,'” Rutte told reporters later in the day. “What I said is that sometimes, in Europe, I hear sometimes countries saying, ‘Hey, Mark, will the U.S. stay with us?’ And I said that sounds a little bit like a small child asking his daddy, ‘Hey, are you still staying with the family?’ So in that sense, I used ‘daddy’ — not that I was calling President Trump daddy.” 

Rutte drew attention — and jokes from Trump — after he invoked the word “daddy” while describing the president’s response to Israel and Iran’s military conflict. 

“Sometimes daddy needs to use strong language,” Rutte said with a laugh, referring to Trump using the f-word to rebuke the Middle Eastern countries on Tuesday. 

Again, it’s too late, Mr. Secretary-General. 

Trump came back to the United States tonight, securing more NATO states agreeing to contribute to defense spending (via The Guardian): 

A relaxed Donald Trump said Nato’s decision to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP was a “big win” for western civilisation in a digressive press conference at a summit in The Hague where he reaffirmed the US’s commitment to the military alliance. 

There was every sign that the careful setup of the summit – in which most allies in Europe and Canada committed billions more on defence – had worked to keep Trump bound in to the alliance, with the US president praising Mark Rutte, its secretary general, and a night where he “slept beautiful” in the Dutch king’s palace. 

Though he took issue with Spain for refusing to meet the 5% spending pledge and criticised CNN and the New York Times for reporting that Iran’s nuclear sites may not have been destroyed by US bombing, none of this disrupted the president’s overall pro-Nato tone. 

America is back. 

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