A NATO leader referred to President Donald Trump as “daddy” after he used profanity while discussing the Israel-Iran conflict ahead of the two-day summit on Tuesday.
While speaking with Trump in The Hague on Wednesday, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte thanked the U.S. president for brokering an Israel-Iran ceasefire following a 12-day war.
Trump compared the warring nations to “two kids in a school yard” fighting, according to Sky News, adding, “They fight like hell. You can’t stop them. Let them fight for about two, three minutes. Then it’s easier to stop them.”
“Then daddy has to sometimes use strong language,” Rutte responded, which prompted smiles from Trump.
Rutte’s joke came after Trump dropped the F-bomb while speaking to reporters Tuesday on his way to the NATO Summit, expressing frustration with both Iran and Israel.
“I’m not happy with [Israel]. I’m not happy with Iran either, but I’m really unhappy of Israel’s going out this morning because that one rocket that didn’t land, that was shot perhaps by mistake, that didn’t land. I’m not happy about that,” Trump said.
“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. Do you understand that?” the president continued.
Trump addressed Rutte’s jab later in the day, saying he called him that “very affectionately.”
“He likes me, I think he likes me. If he doesn’t, I’ll let you know. I’ll come back and I’ll hit him hard,” he said, prompting laughter from the audience.
Rutte also praised Trump for leading the push since January to get NATO leaders to commit to raising defense spending to 5% of GDP over the next decade.
“We have to keep ourselves safe from our adversaries, but also because it’s fair to equalize with the United States,” Rutte said Tuesday.
Originally published on Latin Times
