NATO chief finally explains why he called Trump 'daddy'

NATO’s secretary general has offered an explanation about why he seemingly called Donald Trump ‘daddy’.

The moment when Mark Rutte appeared to reveal a new nickname for the U.S. president understandably went viral last year when the two leaders attended the 2025 NATO summit in The Hague in the Netherlands. It's here where heads of state come together to discuss safety, the alliance and other worldly topics.

However, it was Rutte’s nickname for the POTUS that attracted a lot of attention and left the public with more questions than answers.

Fast-forward several months and Rutte and Trump had another meeting this week at the White House after Trump had toyed with the idea of quitting the military alliance. Rutte was asked about why he calls Trump ‘daddy’ and he explained to reporters it’s simply a ‘language problem’.

Mark Rutte has clarified his 'daddy' comments about Trump (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

He explained: “In Dutch, you would say - the translation of your father is daddy - and i said, ‘sometimes daddy has to be angry.

“So I was not calling him my daddy. But of course, daddy has all sorts of special connotations, and now I have to live with it for the rest of my life."

He added that both he and the U.S. president ‘own it’.

Last year, both Trump and Rutte were asked about the ceasefire between Iran and Israel in June.

"They've had a big fight, like two kids in a schoolyard," Trump said at the time, via Sky News. "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."

Trump and NATO's secretary general Mark Rutte on January 21, 2026 (Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images)

Rutte then added: "And then Daddy has to sometimes use strong language to get it stopped."

Rutte insisted last year that he was not calling Trump 'daddy'.

"The 'daddy' thing, I didn't call him daddy," he said. "What I said is that sometimes in Europe, I hear sometimes countries saying, 'Hey Mark, will the US stay with us?' And I said, that sounds a little bit like a small child asking his daddy, 'Are you still staying with the family?'"

Rutte concluded, Mail Online reports: "So in that sense I was using 'daddy' not that I was calling President Trump 'daddy'."

Trump aired his frustrations about NATO and Greenland following his recent meeting with Rutte on Wednesday (April 9) as he complained that NATO allies did not support the U.S. in the Iran conflict.

In a post shared on his own social media platform Truth Social after the private meeting, the he said: "NATO WASN'T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON'T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN."