Nato chief Mark Rutte has been forced to backtrack on an embarrassing remark – where he apparently called US president Donald Trump ‘daddy.’
During a meeting of the defence bloc in the Hague yesterday, Rutte and Trump met following the US president’s crass comment on the Iran-Israel war.
It was there that the US President he said: ‘We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f*** they’re doing.’
Rutte said on Wednesday that ‘Daddy has to use strong language’ to get Israel and Iran to sort things out, to which Trump agreed.
‘You have to use strong language. Every once in a while you have to use a certain word,’ the president said.
But the Nato chief’s comments raised eyebrows across the world, and later in the day Rutte, the former prime minister of the Netherlands, was forced to backtrack.
He said: ‘The daddy thing, I didn’t call [Trump] daddy, what I said, is that sometimes… In Europe, I hear sometimes countries saying, “hey, Mark, will the US 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 use daddy, not that I was calling President Trump daddy.’
But Trump himself appeared to enjoy being called ‘daddy’ as he was referred to at Wednesday’s Nato Summit in the Hague by Rutte, who has led the defence bloc since October 2024.
During Trump’s whirlwind press conference that marked his final appearance at the summit, a reporter asked him how he felt when Rutte had referred to the American president as ‘daddy’ earlier in the day.
President Donald Trump (left) appeared to like being called ‘daddy’ as he was referred to at Wednesday’s Nato Summit in the Hague by Secretary General Mark Rutte. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (right) broke character when asked about Rutte’s ‘daddy’ comment
Secretary of State Marco Rubio (right) giggles behind President Donald Trump (left) as he answered questions about being called ‘daddy’ by Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte during the Wednesday conference in the Hague, Netherlands
‘No, he likes me, I think he likes me! If he doesn’t I’ll let you know and I’ll come back and I’ll hit him hard OK?’ Trump told the journalist.
‘He did it very affectionately though,’ Trump continued. ‘”Daddy, you’re my daddy,”‘ the president said with a smile.
Alongside Trump was the usually stoic Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
But the former Florida senator couldn’t contain his laughter, bending down and giggling during the back-and-forth.
The president had previously mouthed the F-word at a campaign rally in 2016 and used the word ‘bulls***’ while making a briefing room appearance earlier this year.
Trump also said during his meeting with Rutte that he believed the Iran-Israel ceasefire will hold.
‘They’re not going to be fighting each other, they’ve had it,’ the president argued.
‘Like two kids in the schoolyard, they fight like hell, you can’t stop them. Let them fight for two or three minutes then it’s easy to stop them.’
The ‘schoolyard’ comment prompted Rutte’s ‘daddy’ observation.
CALL HIM DADDY: Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte (left) told President Donald Trump (center left) ‘Daddy has to use strong language,’ when the president made mention of how he dropped the F-bomb Tuesday in relation to Israel and Iran
During Trump’s press conference, the reporter followed up by asking if the U.S. president viewed ‘your Nato allies as sort of children?’
‘They’re obviously listening to you and they’re spending more, and are obviously appreciative of that. But do you think they can actually defend Europe on their own, without you?’ the journalist asked.
Trump said he believed the European nations would ‘need a little help at the beginning.’
‘And I think they’ll be able to,’ he continued. ‘And I think they’re going to remember this day and this is a big day for Nato, this is a very big day.’
Earlier on Wednesday the Nato nations agreed to something Trump had long pushed – a massive increase in defence spending.
Most of the 32 Nato countries agreed to language that said ‘allies commit to invest 5 percent of GDP annually on core defense requirements as well as defense-and security-related spending by 2035.’
But Nato member Spain pushed back on the agreement, and said it would increase its spending to just 2 per cent, which Trump said he would respond to by forcing high tariffs on the nation.
He said he doesn’t know what ‘the problem’ with Spain, calling the country’s position unfair to other members of the Nato alliance.
‘They want a little bit of a free ride, but they’ll have to pay it back to us on trade,’ he said, making up for it through higher tariffs.
But Spain belongs to the European Union, the world’s largest trading bloc, which negotiates trade deals on behalf of all 27 member countries. They are not meant to negotiate trade deals individually.
Asked about that, Trump said, ‘I’m going to negotiate directly with Spain. I’m going to do it myself.’
The reporter pressed again asking Trump if the European nations could defend themselves without the U.S.
‘Well ask Mark, I think you have to ask Mark, OK?’ Trump said.
US President Donald Trump (R) and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speak to media at the start of the second day of the 2025 NATO Summit on June 25, 2025 in The Hague, Netherlands
Earlier Wednesday the NATO nations agreed to something Trump had long pushed – a massive increase in defence spending
Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, Mark Rutte, secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, UK prime minister, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine’s president, Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister, and Friedrich Merz, Germany’s chancellor, during a meeting at the NATO summit
The president was previously nicknamed ‘daddy’ by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who broke with Trump recently over the president’s decision to bomb Iran’s three nuclear sites this past weekend.
The president has since left The Hague after spending less than 24 hours there for the NATO summit.
The summit wrapped up Wednesday and Trump held a subsequent press conference.
Air Force One, which had touched down on Tuesday at 7:36 p.m. local time, took off from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol shortly before 6 p.m. local time.
The flight was expected to take more than six hours, putting Trump back at the White House on Wednesday evening.