NATO chief's flattery of Trump strains alliance relations - Politico

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte's flattering remarks about US President Donald Trump have strained relations within the alliance. Some member states are expressing concerns about the NATO chief's stance, but others believe that "he is getting results."

This is reported by Politico.

Even after Rutte managed to persuade Trump to abandon his threats to annex Greenland, NATO remains damaged, the publication notes. In particular, the tension was on full display on Monday in the European Parliament, where Rutte openly defended US supremacy in the Alliance.

"If anyone here thinks that the European Union or Europe as a whole can protect itself without the US, then keep dreaming. You can't," he told lawmakers.

The reaction was swift and negative. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told X on social media:

"No, dear Mark Rutte. Europeans can and must take responsibility for their own security. This is the European pillar of NATO."

"It was a shameful moment. We don't need a Trump fanatic. NATO needs to rebalance the US and European efforts," said Nathalie Loiseau, a former French Europe minister and now a member of the European Parliament.

"Are you the [US] ambassador to [NATO] or the secretary general representing the alliance and its members?" asked Spanish MEP Nacho Sánchez Amor.

Politico spoke to more than a dozen NATO insiders, diplomats and Rutte's current and former colleagues. They said Rutte is respected as a skilled crisis manager who recently won in Greenland, but at the cost of deepening European concerns about NATO's long-term future.

But Rutte's defenders say he has done a job of preserving the alliance, which is so complex that he cannot always please all 32 members. Officials familiar with his work also insist that he is speaking more candidly with Trump in private.

But the Greenland row "has done a lot of damage," one NATO diplomat said. Rutte's approach is a "first aid measure" that has "alienated allies," they added. "We are a 32-member alliance, not a US plus 31 club."

The paper says Rutte's priority is to keep the US under Trump from withdrawing from Europe, a goal that has drawn criticism that it overshadows the rest of his work.

"What deal did you make with President Trump? Did you have the authority as Secretary General to negotiate on behalf of Greenland and Denmark?" asked Willy Sivndahl, a Green MEP and former Danish foreign minister, on Monday.

Rutte denied that he had exceeded his authority.

A NATO spokesman responded to the criticism by saying: "Like his predecessors, NATO Secretary General Rutte is convinced that the best way to ensure our collective security is for Europe and North America to work together within NATO."

The publication analyses that despite this, Rutte has stuck to his strategy of publicly flattering Trump, insisting that he is a positive factor for the alliance.

"He can make himself very small and modest to achieve his goal," said Petra de Koning, who wrote Rutte's biography in 2020. At the same time, this often goes to extremes: the Dutchman called Trump "daddy" during last year's NATO summit in The Hague and generously praised him in leaked messages from the US president.

But in private he is more open with Trump, according to a person familiar with Rutte's views.

"The relationship between them is trusting," the source said, but "if you press him, he will be direct."

Meanwhile, the person said, keeping all 32 NATO members on the same page on every decision is "nearly impossible."

"The reality is that Rutte gets results," said a senior NATO diplomat.

"Unlike some other leaders, he has never doubted the alliance - I think that's a lesson," added a second senior NATO diplomat.

"For the good of the alliance [he] flatters himself. But the question is, where will it end?" said the NATO diplomat. The United States and its allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have formed the basis of a future agreement on Greenland. In this regard, Washington will not impose tariffs.

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