The Head of NATO Thinks President Trump ‘Deserves All the Praise'
Trump, however, has long been a NATO skeptic. He has excoriated NATO as a financial drain on the United States, and it was reported that several times during his first term he even privately threatened to withdraw from it. Lately he has demanded that NATO nations pay much more for their own defense and has questioned whether the United States would come to Europe's aid if Russia invaded a member country.
Mark Rutte is the man who has been tasked with keeping Trump happy while setting up NATO for a new, more dangerous era in which Russia has expansionist ambitions, the United States is seen as less reliable and Europe is woefully underprepared to fight its own battles. He became NATO's secretary general late last year after 14 years of serving as prime minister of the Netherlands, where his longevity as a right-of-center leader earned him the nickname Teflon Mark.
I recently met Rutte at NATO headquarters in Brussels after a pivotal summit at which NATO members pledged to spend 5 percent of their G.D.P. on defense by 2035, up from the required 2 percent now. It's a number that Trump demanded, and Rutte delivered. But the biggest headlines out of the summit were actually about Rutte's relationship with Trump. Before the summit, Trump posted on Truth Social a highly complimentary private text message that Rutte sent him about the American bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities. And then, during the meeting, Rutte joked that Trump acted as a 'daddy' to misbehaving Middle Eastern nations, which Trump clearly loved — Trump's fund-raising committee even started selling 'Daddy' T-shirts.
For some observers, this all was evidence that Rutte is willing to do whatever it takes to keep Trump happy, even though the United States is reportedly considering moving thousands of troops out of Europe and, just after I spoke to Rutte, announced that it is halting more weapons shipments to Ukraine. Whatever his motivations, what was clear to me in our conversation is that Rutte is not interested in alienating the American president.
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