Secretary of State Marco Rubio cracked up laughing when President Donald Trump gave his reaction to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte calling the commander in chief ‘daddy’ earlier Wednesday.
During their bilateral meeting in The Hague, Netherlands, Trump discussed the U.S.’ role in brokering a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran, saying both countries were like ‘two kids in a school yard’ who ‘fight like hell’ for a short time before ‘it’s easier to stop them.’
Rutte interjected, ‘Then daddy has to sometimes use strong language.’
Trump had used profanity in front of reporters outside the White House before boarding Marine One on Tuesday, saying about Israel and Iran that they ‘have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f— they’re doing. ‘
At a subsequent press conference Wednesday, Rubio broke into hysterics when a reporter from Sky News asked Trump about the remark.
The reporter reminded Trump that Rutte, ‘who is your friend.… He called you daddy.’
‘Do you regard your NATO allies as kind of children?’ the reporter asked.
Trump responded lightheartedly, and Rubio could be seen standing next to him starting to smile and laugh. ‘No, 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?’ Trump said jokingly.
‘He did. He did it. Very affectionate,’ Trump added of Rutte. ”Daddy, You’re my daddy.”
The reporter pressed on with a more serious tone, as Rubio continued to laugh.
‘Do you regard your NATO allies, though, as kind of like children?’ she said.
NATO leaders on Wednesday committed that the member states would contribute 5% of GDP annually to defense and security obligations by 2035.
‘You’re obviously appreciative of that,’ the reporter said. ‘But do you hope that actually they’re going to be able to defend themselves, defend Europe on their own?’
‘I think they’ll need help a little bit at the beginning, and I think they’ll be able to,’ Trump said. ‘I think they’re going to remember this day and this is a big day for NATO. You know, this was a very big day.’
‘It’s been sort of an amazing day for a lot of reasons, but also for that,’ Trump added, referencing how the greater contributions were decades in the making. Trump claimed it was not possible until he came along.
The reporter pressed, ‘Do you think they can do it without you, though in the future? Can they do more states?’
‘I mean, you have to ask Mark,’ Trump said, concluding the press conference. The president had noted earlier that the only NATO member that did not agree to hike its defense contribution was Spain.
