NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte likened Donald Trump to a “daddy” in the Israel-Iran conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump lashed out at Iran and Israel saying the two nations have been fighting “so long and so hard that they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing”.
Trump berated Israel and Iran again while talking to reporters alongside Rutte at a NATO alliance summit.
“They’ve had a big fight, like two kids in a schoolyard. You know, they fight like hell, you can’t stop them,” Trump said. “Let them fight for about 2-3 minutes, then it’s easy to stop them.”
Rutte laughed in response and added: “And then daddy has to sometimes use strong language to get them to stop.”
Rutte later told reporters that the phrasing was “a matter of taste” when asked if calling Trump “daddy” signifies weakness.
He called Trump a “good friend” and praised him for Europeans increasing military spending.
“So doesn’t he deserve praise?” Rutte asked. “And 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 his hands on a nuclear capability – I think he deserves all the praise.”
Asked about Rutte’s comments, Trump said he appreciated it. “He did it very affectionately,” Trump said. “Daddy, you’re my daddy.”
While Rutte is lavishing praises on Trump, other European officials call his performance embarrassing.
“People are so embarrassed,” one European official, who was granted anonymity to describe conversations with colleagues told Politico. “Yes, the summit was a success on the whole. But the sucking up was pretty over the top.”
