President Donald Trump was praised at the 2025 NATO Summit this week after the weekend’s U.S. strike on Iran’s nuclear sites. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte hailed Trump as both a “man of strength” and a “man of peace.”
“I just want to recognize your decisive action on Iran,” Rutte said at the start of his joint remarks with the president. “You are a man of strength, but you are also a man of peace. And the fact that you are now also successful in getting this ceasefire done between Israel and Iran— I really want to commend you for that. I think this is important for the whole world.”
While en route to the Netherlands for the summit, Trump shared several texts from Rutte in which the NATO leader expressed his support for the president’s move against Iran.
“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,” Rutte wrote in the texts that Trump shared on TRUTH Social.
Rutte also applauded Trump’s push to get NATO members to pay more, calling it “another big success.” All countries—except Spain—agreed to spend 5% of their GDP on defense. Rutte said Trump had done what “no American president in decades could get done.”
Additionally, in a now-viral moment, Rutte referred to President Trump as “Daddy” while talking about the peace deal between Israel and Iran.
Watch the clip below:
NEW: Secretary General of NATO Mark Rutte refers to President Trump as ‘Daddy’ while Trump was talking about Israel & Iran’s peace deal.
Trump: They had a big fight. Like two kids in a schoolyard. Let them fight for about two minutes. Then it's easier to stop them.
Rutte: And… pic.twitter.com/dpG7C7bakY
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) June 25, 2025
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