At the EU Summit, Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever referenced the now-infamous “daddy” statement made by Nato’s secretary-general about Donald Trump
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Prime minister: “Before you know it, you have to start calling someone ‘daddy’”
Lisa Bradshaw
Published:
Defending the goal of increased defence spending among EU states, Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever (N-VA) said yesterday that if Europe didn’t step up, leaders would be reduced to calling someone “daddy”. It was a wry reference to Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte referring to US president Donald Trump as “daddy” at the Nato Summit earlier this week.
Rutte has faced criticism this week for his charm offensive towards Trump, sending messages that the US president has readily posted to his own social media platform Truth Social. “Congratulations and thank you for your decisive action in Iran, that was truly extraordinary, and something no one else dared to do,” Rutte wrote to Trump. Regarding the Nato Summit, Rutte said: “You are flying into another big success.”
Rutte continued the praise during the Nato Summit, noting that the Nato members’ agreement to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP “would not have happened without President Trump”. Trump said during the Nato Summit that he and Rutte “were friends from day one. He knew exactly how to play me.”
During the press conference, Trump likened Israel and Iran to “two kids in a school yard. They fight like hell. You can’t stop them. But you let them fight for about two or three minutes, then it’s easy to stop them.” To which Rutte replied “and then Daddy has to use strong language to get it stopped.”
Before you know it, you have to start calling someone ‘daddy’ – and pretend you like it
Prime minister Bart De Wever
Commentators suggest that Rutte is working to shore up relations with the Trump administration following the US president’s threats to pull out of Nato unless other countries increase defence budgets.
Speaking at the EU Summit a day later, De Wever said that there was a “desire from everyone to create a Europe that has the capacity to operate without being reliant on another power if something should happen. If Ukraine has been an eye-opener, it has been to point out that we can be bullied because we do not have this capacity.”
He went on to say that “these capacities cannot be reinforced by someone who decides that they no longer want to participate. And then before you know it, you have to start calling someone ‘daddy’ - and pretend you like it.”
De Wever said that “this leaves a bad taste in the mouths of a lot of people, and if you don’t want to be faced with another daddy in 10 years, then you have to become daddy yourself.”
Merz the new ‘daddy’?
De Wever concluded by joking that he had told German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that he thought he should be the new daddy. “If Germany commits to 3.5%, then we’ll have a new daddy in 10 years, I think.”
Belgium signed on with 31 of the 32 Nato countries to increase its investment in defence to 5% of GDP - 3.5% for direct military expenditures, and 1.5% on security-related investments like infrastructure and industry. Only Spain refused outright, with other countries – including Belgium – saying that the increase would be extremely difficult to realize.