NATO chief refers to Trump as 'daddy' as he praises US president over Israel-Iran ceasefire

The head of NATO referred to Donald Trump as "daddy" as he heaped praise on the US president over the Israel-Iran ceasefire.

Speaking alongside Mr Trump at a NATO summit in The Hague, Mark Rutte also thanked him for pushing allies to agree to increase their spending contributions, saying it "wouldn't have happened" without him.

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NATO leaders pledged to increase their annual defence spending to 5% of GDP at the summit on Wednesday, fulfilling a long-standing demand by Mr Trump.

Addressing the US president directly, the NATO secretary general said: "This would not have happened if you would not have been elected in 2016 and re-elected last year... so I want to thank you."

Mr Rutte described Mr Trump as "a man of strength" and a "man of peace", praising him for securing a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.

Mr Trump compared Israel and Iran to "two kids in a school yard" fighting, saying: "They fight like hell. You can't stop them. Let them fight for about two, three minutes. Then it's easier to stop them."

Mr Rutte then said: "Then daddy has to sometimes use strong language."

Tensions between Israel and Iran hung over the summit on Wednesday amid a fragile ceasefire.

Several news outlets have published stories that intelligence reports in the US suggest that the American attack on Iran's nuclear programme over the weekend has only set it back by a few months, rather than "obliterated" it as Mr Trump has suggested.

Speaking at the summit, the US president said the strikes were an "obliteration" but acknowledged the intelligence was "very inconclusive".

"The intelligence says we don't know," he added. "It could've been very severe. That's what the intelligence suggests.

"It was very severe. There was obliteration."

Mr Trump added: "That hit ended the war."

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Drawing comparisons to US atomic bombings during the Second World War, he said: "I don't want to use an example of Hiroshima. I don't want to use an example of Nagasaki. But that was essentially the same thing. That ended that war."

Meanwhile, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said the Trump administration was launching an investigation into the disclosure of those intelligence findings.

Trump shares flattering Rutte message

Mr Rutte's choice of language when addressing Mr Trump has been a talking point of the two-day summit.

On Tuesday, the US president shared a message from Mr Rutte, in which the NATO chief congratulated him for his "decisive action in Iran", as well as his push to increase defence spending.

"You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done," Mr Rutte told Mr Trump.

"Europe is going to pay in a BIG way as they should, and it will be your win."

'Ironclad commitment' to collective defence

Alongside their pledge to increase defence spending, NATO leaders affirmed their "ironclad commitment" to collective defence.

Mr Trump had sparked concern on Tuesday after he cast doubt on his commitment to the alliance's mutual defence guarantees.

The US president avoided directly endorsing Article 5, telling reporters en route to the summit that there were "numerous definitions" of the clause.

NATO's Article 5 requires members to defend each other from attack.

All NATO members have backed a statement enshrining the 5% target - to be achieved over the next 10 years. However Spain has already come out to warn it will agree to the new target but without having a plan to reach it.

(c) Sky News 2025: NATO chief refers to Trump as 'daddy' as he praises US president over Israel-Ira