A top globalist politician who was once hailed as the “Trump Whisperer” and currently serves as NATO Secretary-General, predicts that good relations will be built no matter who wins next month's US presidential election. , said it allays some traditional criticism that Donald Trump is somehow dangerous to the West. Alliance.
Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte served as Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for 11 days, but to a certain extent his strength as a rare internationalist and globalist who openly forged a friendly relationship with President Trump during his term in office. secured the position. At the office. He traveled to London on Thursday to meet with the British Prime Minister and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, signaling that the foundations are being laid for continued cooperation with Trump if he becomes president again. It looked like.
Rutte said times London said: “I've worked very well with him for four years…I'm sure things will go well.” [whoever becomes president] Because at the end of the day, both countries want to keep America safe, and we need NATO to keep America safe. He said he has had a “good relationship” with President Trump, adding: “I have a lot of respect for him and I think we could work together if he were elected.”
Rutte argues that Trump's good attitude towards NATO is not just a matter of personal relationships, but that in an increasingly unstable world, the alliance is simply more important to the United States. He said it would be important. “For all our allies in NATO, big and small, we can't do it alone. We have to be members of a strong alliance and organization like NATO…This is Trump. I know he knows this… He needs allies in a harsh and uncompromising world.”
The former Dutch prime minister said he was confident things would go well no matter who wins the White House, but he also indicated he sympathizes with President Trump's talking points on NATO, two issues he has spoken out about at length. He suggested that he fully understood the former president's position. The percentage of each alliance member's defense spending should be lost to history. Rutte said this was “not enough” and that NATO members needed to discuss whether to set a new spending floor of 2.5% or 3%.
Rutte was quoted as saying, “I think we have to do more…We have more to do and we have to make sure there are no gaps in ability.”
Regarding Rutte's attitude towards Donald Trump, it is reported as follows:
Perhaps one of Mr. Rutte's greatest strengths in this job is his skill as a “Trump whisperer,” which is very likely to become an important quality for NATO leaders in the coming years. While the two men may not share the same political views, Rutte has been diplomatic toward Trump in the past, even chiding other European leaders for their constant criticism of the former president. be.
Rutte said in 2019 that he was irritated by the “white wine drinking elites” who rolled their eyes at President Trump's criticism of organizations such as NATO, saying that Trump had problems with NATO and needed to improve it. He was correct in pointing out that there was. So instead of just complaining that “Trump is very wrong” about everything, Rutte would be better off using Trump's presence to correct the flaws in multilateralism in NATO, the World Trade Organization, and the European Union. He said it would be.
Last month, Mr. Rutte once again diverged from European leaders' opinion of Mr. Trump, pointing out that the former president had indeed pointed out that some European countries had ignored their NATO treaty obligations and paid little for their defense. He pointed out that it was the right thing to do. Reports at the time suggested that a more down-to-earth leader should be taken “seriously, not literally”, but amid a flurry of news that has commentators worried over President Trump's latest NATO comments. “We need to stop moaning, whining and nagging,” Rutte said. About Trump. ”
Until now, President Trump's criticisms of the alliance have been interpreted as evidence that he has weakened NATO by saying he is a danger to NATO and that its members need to strengthen its formation. But early criticism of Trump has since proven to be well-founded, and NATO officials, even those who may not have been natural Trump supporters, have expressed concern that Trump is pushing the alliance to take further action. He admitted that he urged him to do so.
