Donald Trump the “daddy” and a NATO summit marked by simpering gratitude.
That was the overriding theme of a day-and-a-half of defence and diplomacy at The Hague.
Like it or not, the fawning praise by Mark Rutte, the head of NATO, and many other European allies appears to have paid off, with the US president heading home seemingly back on board with the notion of collective defence – for now.
The most toe-curling display of affection towards Mr Trump came when he, along with Mr Rutte, were speaking to reporters about how the US commander-in-chief brokered a ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran.
“They’ve had a big fight, like two kids in a schoolyard,” Mr Trump said.
“You know, they fight like hell. You can’t stop it. Let them fight for about two, three minutes, then it’s easy to stop them.”
Mr Rutte added: “And then Daddy has to sometimes use strong language to get it stopped.”
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I later asked Mr Trump at a news conference at the end of the summit about being called “Daddy” and whether he regards his NATO allies as children.
The president said: “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. Okay? He did it. Very affectionate. Daddy. You’re my daddy.”
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I continued the question, though, to ask again whether he views fellow NATO member states as children and once they bolster their defences, might they be able to defend themselves without needing to rely on the US.
The president said he thought they would still need help from the start. As for whether they could go it alone without the United States in the future, he said: “Ask Mark [Rutte].”
For now, the feeling at the summit was more harmonious than hostile.
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Whether that sentiment endures will depend on everyone being true to their word and increasing defence spending to a new target of 3.5% of GDP – up from 2% – with an additional 1.5% of GDP to be invested in national resilience.
It adds up to 5% in total – a figure first touted by Mr Trump when he returned to the White House for his second term and resumed an attack on NATO, accusing too many of its members of freeloading off American security instead of paying to defend themselves.
The US president, though, seemed to think the boost to budgets would be happening quickly, whereas the shortest timeline all 32 allies could agree to is 10 years. Spain has been even more flaky, agreeing to the new target but making clear it won’t be met.
As well as disappointing Mr Trump, such a slow pace of change is also woefully inadequate to rearm member states in time to confront what the Baltic states and Poland believe to be a very real risk of Vladimir Putin testing the alliance’s defences within the next five years.
