NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte praised President Trump on Wednesday for degrading Iran’s nuclear capability, saying Tehran had been “basically getting its hands on” one. He also credited Trump personally for helping set that program back, remaining the true leader of the free world, and working to ensure Iran is unable to threaten Europe and other allies.
Rutte has been working hard to keep NATO unified since the Iran war, especially after tensions flared over Europe’s reluctance to back U.S. combat operations to open the Strait of Hormuz. Whether his praise is sincere or simply diplomatic damage control, the result is the same: even Trump’s critics have to acknowledge that the war’s bare minimum achievement was a meaningful degradation of Iran’s nuclear capacity.
🚨 NOW: NATO SecGen Mark Rutte has just STUNNED the fake news, coming out 100% in SUPPORT of President Trump scoring victory over Iran
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) June 24, 2026
"It would've been a threat to the WHOLE WORLD! They were VERY near a nuclear weapon."
"ALL the G7 leaders applaud the fact the nuclear… pic.twitter.com/22TZAiM3hH
"First of all about Iran. I really want to make clear how important it is what you are doing on Iran. This is, first of all, about the nuclear capability Iran was basically getting its hands on. And that would have been a threat to the region, it would have been a threat to the whole world," the NATO chief said. "This is a country which is exporting chaos, it is exporting terrorism, and they were very near to getting their hands on the nuclear capability."
"You have seen last week in the G7, all the leaders in the G7 applauding the fact that this nuclear capability has been degraded," he continued. "This is extremely important. And I just want to make this clear, because sometimes people think, why was this whole Iran thing going on? This is about security, about safety. This is the leader of the free world taking responsibility beyond the shores of the United States for the rest of the world. And this is what you did."
Questions are now mounting around the Iran memorandum of understanding agreed to last week, even as the Trump administration steps up its defense of the deal. While the United States has clearly degraded Iran’s nuclear program and military capabilities, Tehran, and even third-party mediators including Qatar and Pakistan, appear convinced they hold the upper hand.
Reports say Iranian officials made Vice President JD Vance wait over the weekend, snubbed handshakes, and even denied a photo opportunity with the American negotiating team. Iran then continued to deny key parts of the agreement despite Vance describing the talks as productive. It also reportedly vowed to funnel oil revenue and unfrozen assets directly to Hezbollah, which is still engaged in combat with Israeli forces in Lebanon and has fired missiles and drones into Israel.
The Trump administration has made clear it is prepared to resume military action if Iran tries to stall or cheat, even if the president has not yet reached that point, disappointing many conservatives eager for a harder line.
What remains unclear is whether the MOU is mainly being used as a midterm victory story for Republicans or whether it is still the core of Trump’s broader peace plan.