Mastodawn

#NATO Secretary General #MarkRutte will meet with Trump Wednesday at a time of high tensions. Trump has been especially unpredictable of late & has lambasted NATO for not supporting his #war in #Iran. The #US plans to pull ⅓ of the fighter jets it provides to NATO in an emergency. And last week, Secy of Defense Pete #Hegseth announced a 6-month review of US troop deployments in #Europe.

#geopolitics #NationalSecurity
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/23/world/europe/mark-rutte-nato-trump.html?smid=url-share&smid=nytcore-ios-share&rsrc=cl-share

How Mark Rutte of NATO Manages an Unpredictable Trump

Secretary General Mark Rutte is headed to Washington. His style has at times frustrated the very European leaders who need him to hold the alliance together.

The New York Times

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Nonilex 1d ago

#Rutte, 59, is tasked with softening those blows. But he is also regularly accused inside #NATO of pandering to #Trump, especially on issues outside his purview. His support for Trump has alienated some European allies, who…worry that he is not fully representing their interests.

Rutte & Trump talk several times a week, sometimes bantering about golf or world affairs beyond NATO, according to people familiar with their dynamic.

#geopolitics #NationalSecurity #GlobalSecurity

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Nonilex 1d ago

#Rutte once delayed a diplomatic dinner to sit in the car outside a Brussels brasserie talking on the phone to #Trump, said Thijs van der Plas, the Dutch ambassador to #NATO. (Asked for comment, a US official denied the 2 men spoke that often.)

Another time, on a visit to the White House, Trump ushered Rutte & his staff into the private dining room & gave them #MAGA paraphernalia that Trump compared in quality to a Lamborghini, an aide said.

#geopolitics #NationalSecurity #GlobalSecurity

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Nonilex 1d ago

…At last year’s summit, #Rutte suggested that #Trump was the #alliance’s “daddy,” prompting the White House to highlight the remark with a music video. (Later, somewhat abashed, Rutte said that “daddy has all sorts of special connotations, and now I have to live with it for the rest of my life.”)

#NATO #geopolitics #NationalSecurity #GlobalSecurity

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Nonilex 1d ago

…But lately, some say #Rutte has gone too far. He has praised #Trump for going to #war in #Iran, even though many European leaders have called the war illegal & Iran is outside #NATO’s area.

“Did he need to compliment the president on the Iran war and urge Americans to support it?” asked Julianne Smith, the US ambassador to NATO under President Joe Biden. “Many feel that crossed a line.”

#NATO #geopolitics #NationalSecurity #GlobalSecurity

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FinchHaven sfba 1d ago

@Nonilex

#Rutte is an idiot, and is one of the worst #European politicians with the attitude that #Trump is some sort of god-tier, twelve-dimensional geopolitical chess player whose thinking and strategies are simply too subtle for mere humans to comprehend

The entire lot needs to put down their cocktails and take a deep, cleansing breath and join reality

#DonaldTrump #Trump #Infantile #JDVance #PeteHegseth #MarcoRubio #StephenMiller #MAGA #RepublicanParty #Republicans #GOP #Traitors #Iran #IranWar #HormuzStrait