NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Sunday offered a full-throated endorsement of President Donald Trump’s military efforts against Iran and also said he expects the nations of NATO to come together to support Trump.
“What I know is that we always come together,” Rutte told host Margaret Brennan on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
Rutte has consistently been supportive of Trump even as some of the leading European powers — noting that NATO is intended to be a defensive alliance — have expressed reluctance to help Trump with the Iran war, including with U.S. efforts to make the Strait of Hormuz safe for the passage of oil tankers.
Trump, for his part, has lashed out at NATO. “Without the U.S.A., NATO IS A PAPER TIGER! They didn’t want to join the fight to stop a Nuclear Powered Iran,” he wrote on Truth Social on Friday. “Now that fight is Militarily WON, with very little danger for them, they complain about the high oil prices they are forced to pay, but don’t want to help open the Strait of Hormuz, a simple military maneuver that is the single reason for the high oil prices. So easy for them to do, with so little risk. COWARDS, and we will REMEMBER!”
Rutte, while expressing reluctance to criticize the European leaders, said of Trump: “He’s doing this to make the whole world safe.”
A former prime minister of the Netherlands, Rutte told Brennan it was taking the European powers some time to come around because they had been left out of the initial planning in an effort to preserve the element of surprise of the American and Israeli attacks.
“I understand the president’s frustration that it takes some time, but again I also ask for some understanding because nations had to prepare for this not knowing,” Rutte said.
In supporting the current military campaign, Rutte contrasted the military actions against Iran with the world’s efforts to prevent North Korea from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
“We have seen with North Korea if we negotiate for too long, you might pass the moment when you can still get this thing done and North Korea now has the nuclear capability,” he said, saying a nuclear-armed Iran would be a clear threat to Israel, Europe and the stability of the world.