NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has caused friction among European officials after declaring unbridled support for Donald Trump’s war in Iran.
Rutte, who famously referred to the 79-year-old U.S. president as “daddy” during a NATO summit last year, suggested that U.S. allies will eventually assist in reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping route, which Trump has fiercely demanded.
“What I know is that we always come together,” the NATO chief told CBS News’ Face the Nation on Sunday. “He’s doing this to make the whole world safe,” Rutte added. “It’s only logical that European countries take a couple of weeks to come together.”
Rutte’s insistence that European countries in the military alliance will join Trump’s deeply unpopular war in Iran stands in direct contrast to what nations such as France, Germany, and the U.K. have repeatedly stated since the conflict began on Feb. 28.
“It puts us in a really awkward and uncomfortable spot,” one European Union diplomat told the Financial Times. “We want to show willing, but it’s also true that we are not in a position to get involved in any way.”
Rutte’s comments come after Trump—a longtime critic of NATO—suggested the U.S. could pull out of the military alliance unless countries send ships to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the worldwide oil crisis triggered by the U.S. and Israel’s war in Iran.
“Without the U.S.A., NATO IS A PAPER TIGER! They didn’t want to join the fight to stop a Nuclear Powered Iran,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Friday.
“Now that fight is Militarily WON, with very little danger for them, they complain about the high oil prices they are forced to pay, but don’t want to help open the Strait of Hormuz, a simple military maneuver that is the single reason for the high oil prices. So easy for them to do, with so little risk. COWARDS, and we will REMEMBER!”
Multiple U.S. allies have said they have no interest in being dragged into Trump’s conflict, which has no clear end in sight after more than three weeks.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Tuesday that getting involved in the war in Iran would be a “politically disastrous mistake” for any country.
“And that is what frustrates me most: a truly avoidable, unnecessary war,” he said.
France’s chief of the defense staff, Fabien Mandon, added that the U.S. “is becoming increasingly unpredictable and doesn’t even bother to inform us when they decide to launch military operations.”
“That has an impact on our security. It has an impact on our interests,” Mandon said.
A NATO official told the Daily Beast: “NATO is not involved in the war in Iran but is closely monitoring the situation to keep allies safe. The secretary-general is constantly in exchange with allied leaders across the alliance.”
In June 2025, Rutte used a poor choice of words while defending Trump after the president dropped an F-bomb while criticizing Iran and Israel for violating a ceasefire he had helped arrange.
“Daddy has to sometimes use strong language,” Rutte said during a NATO summit in the Netherlands.
