President Donald Trump appeared to like being called ‘daddy’ as he was referred to at Wednesday’s NATO Summit in the Hague by Secretary General Mark Rutte.
During Trump’s whirlwind press conference that marked his final appearance at the summit, a reporter asked him how he felt when Rutte had referred to the American president as ‘daddy’ earlier in the day.
‘No, he likes me, I think he likes me! If he doesn’t I’ll let you know and I’ll come back and I’ll hit him hard OK?’ Trump told the journalist.
‘He did it very affectionately though,’ Trump continued. ‘”Daddy, you’re my daddy,”‘ the president said with a smile.
Alongside Trump was the usually stoic Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
But the former Florida senator couldn’t contain his laughter, bending down and giggling during the back-and-forth.
During their bilateral meeting Wednesday, Trump and Rutte discussed the current ceasefire in the Iran-Israel war, which the U.S. president announced Monday night.
On Tuesday morning, Trump used rough language after Israel launched an assault on Iran directly ahead of when the ceasefire was to take hold, and then Iran launched several more missiles toward Israel.
‘We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f*** they’re doing,’ Trump dramatically told reporters before boarding Marine One to headed to the Hague.
Rutte said Wednesday, ‘Daddy has to use strong language’ – to get Israel and Iran to sort things out.
Trump agreed.
‘You have to use strong language. Every once in a while you have to use a certain word,’ the president said.
The president had previously mouthed the F-word at a campaign rally in 2016 and used the word ‘bulls***’ while making a briefing room appearance earlier this year.
Trump also said during his meeting with Rutte that he believed the Iran-Israel ceasefire will hold.
‘They’re not going to be fighting each other, they’ve had it,’ the president argued. ‘Like two kids in the schoolyard, they fight like hell, you can’t stop them. Let them fight for two or three minutes then it’s easy to stop them.’
The ‘schoolyard’ comment prompted Rutte’s ‘daddy’ observation.
During Trump’s press conference, the reporter followed up by asking if the U.S. president viewed ‘your NATO allies as sort of children?’
‘They’re obviously listening to you and they’re spending more, and are obviously appreciative of that. But do you think they can actually defend Europe on their own, without you?’ the journalist asked.
Trump said he believed the European nations would ‘need a little help at the beginning.’
‘And I think they’ll be able to,’ he continued. ‘And I think they’re going to remember this day and this is a big day for NATO, this is a very big day.’
Earlier Wednesday the NATO nations agreed to something Trump had long pushed.
The 32 NATO countries agreed to language that said ‘allies commit to invest 5 percent of GDP annually on core defense requirements as well as defense-and security-related spending by 2035.’
The reporter pressed again asking Trump if the European nations could defend themselves without the U.S.
‘Well ask Mark, I think you have to ask Mark, OK?’ Trump said.
The president was previously nicknamed ‘daddy’ by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who broke with Trump recently over the president’s decision to bomb Iran’s three nuclear sites this past weekend.
When asked about the ‘daddy’ comment later Wednesday, Rutte said he wasn’t addressing Trump by that name.
‘The “daddy” thing, I didn’t call him daddy,’ Rutte protested. ‘What I said is that sometimes in Europe, I hear sometimes countries saying, “Hey Mark will the U.S. stay with us?” And I said, that sounds a little bit like a small child asking his daddy, “Are you still staying with the family?”‘
‘So in that sense I was using “daddy,” not that I was calling President Trump “daddy,”‘ Rutte said.
