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A few months ago, NATO chief Mark Rutte decided that logic must die. Using deductive reasoning, he came to the conclusion without blinking. His premises have been that Donald Trump is trustworthy, that the U.S. president can handle Russian leader Vladimir Putin, and that he will shortly secure peace in Ukraine.
By Mira Oklobdzija | Originally pubished by fpif.org June 30, 2025
The costly NATO spectacle in The Hague is dangerous proof of how easily diplomacy can become a dirty word.
But is Donald Trump trustworthy and can he secure peace despite Putin’s reluctance? Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that these premises are correct. Wouldn’t Rutte thus conclude that the Russians no longer threaten the Western world as long as Trump has pacified them? This would accordingly reduce any urgency in arming NATO.
But that urgency has nevertheless returned, based on a new premise: Putin’s regime is dangerous and has its eye not only on Ukraine but on the West more generally and is preparing to invade sometime in the next few years. To counter this threat, NATO proposes huge increases in military spending that will benefit the weapons industry and translate into an expanding housing shortage, fewer resources for students and migrants, and a serious neglect of the climate crisis. As always, the pertinent question is: who profits and who loses out?
Waiting for Trump
The Dutch Broadcasting Foundation (NOS) dedicated two days to live-streaming the NATO summit from The Hague on June 24 and 25. During this time, the city became the best protected fortress in the world. Security services and police had the ground, air, and the sea to themselves.
Most of the participants that NOS interviewed were not known to the wider public but were surely well known in the world of weapon production and distribution. There were also logistical experts and bankers, all in tight suits and with arrogant demeanors. Many pointed their fingers at Putin even as they claimed, unconvincingly, that “diplomacy always helps.”
Everyone was awaiting Donald Trump. With Air Force One still on the ground on the other side of the Atlantic, the man himself appeared, giving angry statements about Iran and, uncharacteristically, Israel. And then he took off for Europe.
What came as a shock to many, and was at first taken for a fake, was Mark Rutte’s message that Trump enthusiastically and immediately shared. It was flattery of the lowest kind. Praising a man who likes to be praised more than anything else, Rutte bowed low, as if before a feared teacher, finishing with “Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win. Safe travels and see you at His Majesty’s dinner!”
Finally, Trump landed in the old world. To add to the drama of it all, the wind blew away the red carpet in front of the royal palace shortly before Trump arrived. To make sure it wouldn’t happen again, two lackeys swiftly stepped on the edges. And then Trump arrived for a dinner party and a cozy overnight stay within the not-so-humble palace of the Dutch royal family. Rarely is somebody invited to spend the night in Huis ten Bosch. But there was special treatment all around for the American president. Even the Dutch political non-entity, Prime Minister Dick Schoof, joined the chorus.
Samuel Beckett’s Godot never appeared before the people who waited for him for a simple reason: the author didn’t wish him to. Donald Trump materialized because both he and Mark Rutte dearly wished it to happen.
The Laws of the Jungle Won
Rutte’s famous phrase for the occasion, repeated ad nauseum, was: “To avoid war, we have to invest more.” He consistently accused Putin of aggressive intent more decisively than Trump himself. And, continuing with his courtship, he declared, “I want to sincerely thank the United States and President Trump for their leadership and for pushing us to do more.” Indeed, all NATO countries except Spain have agreed to increase their military spending to 5 percent of GDP—just in case.
In a 2019 article, I referred to Donald Trump, during his first term in office, as an alpha male surrounded by lambs:
A clear indicator of alpha-male status is the reaction of others in the forest who observe his decisive thumping of his chest. These observers disperse, keep their distance, and remain silent. But just as in the movie of the same name, the silence of the lambs presages bad things to come. The politicians seem not to think so. They think that they are masters of the game, calling it “foreign policy“ or diplomacy or whatever.
At the end of day two of the conference, Trump thumped his chest, again. During his widely anticipated press conference, Trump was…Trump. He boasted about the greatness of America, about technology only Americans have, about an unprecedented lack of inflation. But mostly he boasted about himself, his ability to stop wars, bring about peace, and influence others. He boasted so much that it’s difficult not to doubt some of his statements that possess a modicum of truth. He spat on Biden and all the rest who came before him, offended journalists both present and absent, avoided clear answers to more than one question. His two faithful knights, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, jumped to the microphone from time to time to add their own nice words, spoken from the heart, about their boss of choice—with the same devotion as Mark Rutte. Obviously Trump is a “daddy“ to them all, and not just to the bad guys in Iran and Israel who momentarily spoiled his victory dance in The Hague.
Nobody asked Trump why he doesn’t recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court—naive as this question would be—and why he cancelled the Paris climate agreement. Nor did journalists from around the world ask about American support for the Israeli government, the genocide in Gaza, and the suffering of Palestinians. Probably the media just respects the fact that Trump and Netanyahu, as an old married couple, can have their passionate quarrels from time to time but remain deeply devoted to each other and intend to stay together, no matter what.
Mark Rutte, a flip-flopper extraordinaire, is surely pleased with himself, though some naughty Dutch journalists are speaking about “Operation Trump“ and „charm offensive“ without much enthusiasm. Rutte himself did not think he had exaggerated at all. He acknowledges that statements are always a matter of taste, adding that it is perfectly normal to compliment someone who has achieved something:
The attack on the Iranian nuclear installations was a good thing. The problem with international law is that you can always discuss it … everyone must acknowledge that defense spending in Europe would not have risen so spectacularly if Trump had not exerted so much pressure.
NATO, he added, is becoming “more honest“ and “more deadly.“ Rutte likes to say that “vision is like the elephant that obstructs the view. If vision means a blueprint for the future, then everything that is liberal in me resists it.”
So, Marc Rutte is a man who proudly announces that he lacks vision. Nevertheless, he has recently confessed to seeing a looming apocalypse coming from the east. His only response is to arm NATO even more, to defend and threaten with weapons and not to look for diplomatic solutions.