NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Sunday offered a full-throated endorsement of Donald Trump’s military efforts against Iran and also said he expects the nations of NATO to come together to support Trump.
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!”
My take is that he decided the best way to handle it is to go so far over the top that it’s clear for everyone that what he’s doing is a clown act
Playing it serious would actually be more hurtful to his reputation in the long run