White House video embraces Trump as ‘daddy’ after NATO chief’s remark

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was forced to explain his choice of words in a meeting with Donald Trump where he referred to the U.S. president as 'daddy.'

BRUSSELS -- The White House embraced the moniker of “daddy” for Donald Trump in a video that it released after NATO chief Mark Rutte used the term in a conversation with the U.S. president.

“Daddy’s home,” the White House posted on X, along with the video featuring the song “Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home)” by Usher and images of Trump at the NATO summit in The Hague.

Rutte, the Dutch secretary general of the military alliance, used the word “daddy” in an appearance with Trump at Wednesday’s summit after the U.S. president berated Israel and Iran over violations of a ceasefire, which later appeared to be holding.

In response, Rutte laughed and said: “And then daddy has to sometimes use strong language to get (them to) stop.”

On Tuesday, Trump said Iran and Israel had been fighting “so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f--k they’re doing.”

In an interview with Reuters after the summit, Rutte said he had used the word “daddy” to describe how some allies seem to view the United States, rather than about Trump specifically.

“In Europe, I hear sometimes countries saying, ‘Hey, Mark, will the U.S. stay with us?’ And I said that sounds a little bit like a small child asking his daddy, ‘Hey, are you still staying with the family?’” Rutte said.

“So in that sense, I used daddy, (it’s) not that I was calling President Trump daddy.”

Asked if this meant other NATO members were like children who were now growing up after a pledge to spend more on defense, Rutte said they “already have grown up” but realized they had to step up and “equalize” defense spending with the United States.

Reporting by Andrew Gray; editing by Mark Heinrich, Reuters