NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte was grilled by reporters Wednesday for being too “gushing” in his praise of President Trump during the alliance’s summit at the Hague.
Mr. Rutte, who sent a complimentary text message to Mr. Trump for his efforts to push NATO members to elevate their defense spending to 5% of their GDP, was asked if his flattery made him look weak.
“I don’t think so. I think it’s bit of a question of taste, but I think he’s a good friend, and when he is doing stuff which is forcing us to, for example, making more investments, would you ever think that this would be the result of this summit if he would not have been reelected president?” Mr. Rutte asked.
He said, “Do you really think that seven or eight countries who said ’yes, somewhere in the 2030s we might meet the 2% [goal], we have now all decided the last four or five months to get to 2%’? So, doesn’t he deserve some praise?”
In his message to Mr. Trump, Mr. Rutte wrote, “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.”
He also told the president, “You are flying into another big success in The Hague … It was not easy but we’ve got them all signed onto 5 percent!”
NATO allies have agreed to invest 5% of their GDP in defense, which includes at least 3.5% of GDP invested in core defense requirements, while the remaining 1.5% will go toward investments that support NATO’s defense and security.
The benchmark until Wednesday had been set at the 2% target. NATO members have agreed to meet the new 5% target by 2035.
Mr. Rutte also took heat from reporters for saying earlier in the day when meeting with the president and his top Cabinet officials that Mr. Trump had to step in as “daddy” when the ceasefire between Iran and Israel nearly fell apart.
Mr. Rutte defended himself, saying, “When it comes to Iran, the fact that he took this decisive action, very targeted, to make sure that Iran would not be able to get [its] hands on a nuclear capability, I think he deserves all the praise.”
He said, “I think what the U.S. did last weekend is justified. This is preventing Iran getting its hands on a nuclear deterrent, so I think it was totally justified for what the U.S. did.”
