NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte sang President Donald Trump’s praises in a message the President shared on Truth Social on Tuesday.
Rutte sent the message – seemingly on the app Signal – as the President is enroute to attend the two-day NATO summit in the Netherlands. In the gushing letter, Rutte praised the president’s “decisive action in Iran,” saying it was “something no one else dared to do.”
“You are flying into another big success in The Hague this evening. It was not easy, but we’ve got them all signed onto 5 percent!” Rutte wrote. “Donald, you have driven us to a really, really important moment for America and Europe, and the world. You will achieve something that NO American president in decades could get done.”
Rutte was likely referring to a proposed agreement between NATO’s 32 members that would increase defense spending per country to 5% of GDP. Trump is pushing for the agreement and has long accused European countries in NATO of being overly reliant on the U.S. when it comes to defense.
Rutte said he did not intend for Trump to share, but added that he has “no problem with it at all.” Rutte says all member countries will reach 2% defense spending target this year – and it’s all thanks to Trump.
“Well, look what is inside my text message to him,” Rutte said. “Delivering the 2% without him – it would never have happened this year, let’s be honest.”
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has responded at the alliance's summit in The Hague after some of his private messages to US President Donald Trump were made public: pic.twitter.com/GtjyzLKPCu
— DW Europe (@dw_europe) June 24, 2025
Rutte’s not the only person who’s shown they’re open to flattery when dealing with Trump. Before the 2024 presidential election, tech CEOs lined up to kiss Trump’s ring. Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos made overtures toward the businessman-turned-president, and Tesla head Elon Musk used a campaign-funding gambit to briefly become Trump’s right-hand man.
In his first few months back in office, Trump has fielded many offers and compliments from foreign leaders. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba fawned over the President after their first meeting.
“I was so excited to see such a celebrity on television,” Ishiba said. “On television, he is frightening, and he has a very strong personality, but when I met with him, actually, he was very sincere and very powerful.”
In April, Trump bragged in a speech before the National Republican Congressional Committee that U.S. trade partners were doing anything to get out from under a raft of proposed tariffs. He said that foreign leaders were “dying to make a deal.”
“I’m telling you these countries are calling us up, kissing my ass,” he said.
Read more
about Trump’s foreign relationships
