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Donald Trump dominated extraordinary NATO summit that saw European defence spending increase – NATO chief calls Trump ‘Daddy’

ABC News, By Europe correspondent Elias Clure at The Hague, 26 June 25

Donald Trump was given a royal welcome by the monarch of the Netherlands as he arrived at the NATO summit in The Hague.

He left feeling like a king.

Member nations agreed to lift their defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP over 10 years and Mr Trump was quick to take credit, describing it as a “big win” for the United States.

He’d been calling for more spending and had made threats about the future of the alliance if it wasn’t agreed upon.

“They said, ‘You did it, sir, you did it sir.’ Well, I don’t know if I did it, but I think I did,” Mr Trump said.

When the commitment was finalised by members in an official summit declaration, NATO members proclaimed the summit a huge success.

But the event, which aims to hear from delegations of the 32 NATO countries and many more partners and allies, seemed to revolve around the presence of one man.

Trump insists damage was done

Mr Trump’s first official engagement at the NATO summit HQ was with Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

The president arrived at the meeting with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and State Department boss Marco Rubio. The meeting began with Mr Rutte lauding America’s actions in Iran.

“The great thing is you took out the nuclear capability of Iran. This was crucial. You did it in a way which is extremely impressive. But the signal it sends to the rest of the world that this president, when it comes to it, yes, he is a man of peace, but if necessary, he is willing to use strength,” Mr Rutte said.

When the American delegation was probed by the press on the validity of the White House’s claims that Iran’s nuclear capabilities had been comprehensively demolished, it pushed back.

Mr Hegseth accused sceptics of being “politically motivated”, saying the damage was, in fact, “severe”.

Mr Rubio declared that the damage to the enrichment facilities was so bad “you can’t even find it on the map … it’s totally wiped out”.

Not to be outdone, Mr Trump then provided the most vivid description of Operation Midnight Hammer’s success, comparing the raid to the most destructive bombing in history.

“That hit ended the war. I don’t want to use an example of Hiroshima. I don’t want to use an example of Nagasaki. But that was essentially the same thing. That ended that war. This ended that war,”

Mr Trump said.

Mr Rutte watched on in silence.

NATO chief calls Trump ‘Daddy’

The NATO secretary-general has been quite transparent in his attempts to flatter the president.

Mr Trump seemed so taken by the gushing display of admiration by Mr Rutte that he leaked a text message reportedly sent to him by the alliance boss.

“Mr. President, dear Donald, Congratulations and thank you for your decisive action in Iran, that was truly extraordinary, and something no one else dared to do. It makes us all safer,” Mr Rutte reportedly wrote in the message.

Mr Rutte said at the summit that he was not embarrassed by the message, and he was actually happy for it to be made public.

“There’s nothing in it that had to stay secret,” he said.

At Mr Rutte’s meeting with Mr Trump, he was asked about what he thought about the commander-in-chief’s use of the f-word when describing Israel and Iran.

Mr Trump said that the two countries “had a big fight, like two kids in a schoolyard”.

Mr Rutte’s response was light-hearted but telling.

“Daddy has to sometimes use strong language.”……………………………………….

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-26/donald-trump-dominates-extraordinary-nato-summit/105461646

June 26, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | EUROPE, politics international