The White House / Flickr
World leaders gathered in the Netherlands on Tuesday for the 2025 NATO summit, where defense spending, alliance unity, and headline-making moments from President Donald Trump dominated the agenda.
Here are the top five moments from Trump’s appearances at NATO:
1. “Daddy” moment goes viral
One of the most talked-about moments came when NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, praising Trump’s harsh words during Israel-Iran ceasefire negotiations, quipped: “Daddy has to sometimes use strong language.”
The line, which quickly went viral online, drew laughs from the room.
Trump later embraced the nickname, joking, “He likes me, I think he likes me… He did it very affectionately, ‘Daddy, you’re my daddy.’”
2. NATO chief backs Trump: He “deserves some praise”
Asked at a news conference whether the “daddy” comment made him look weak, Rutte brushed it off.
“Doesn’t he deserve some praise?” he said, pointing to Trump’s leading role in the summit negotiations.
3. NATO commits to 5% defense spending vision
In a major policy win, all 32 NATO allies signed a joint statement vowing to work toward spending 5% of GDP on defense by 2035 — more than doubling the long-standing 2% benchmark. The shift reflects Trump’s persistent push for greater burden-sharing across the alliance.
“I’ve been asking them to go up to 5% for a number of years,” Trump told Rutte earlier that day.
4. Trump pushes Putin for peace in Ukraine
Trump said he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of the summit and urged him to commit to peace in Ukraine.
“I said ‘No, no, you help me get a settlement with you, with Russia,’ and I think we’re going to be doing that too,” Trump recounted. “Putin really has to end that war. People are dying at levels that people haven’t seen before for a long time.”
He also confirmed a planned meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy: “We’ll discuss the obvious… his difficulties.”
5. Trump threatens to make Spain ‘pay twice’
After Spain signed onto NATO’s joint statement but declined to fully commit to the 5% target, Trump singled them out for their low defense spending — just 1.24% of GDP.
“We’re negotiating with Spain on a trade deal. We’re going to make them pay twice as much,” Trump said. “And I’m actually serious about that… They want a little bit of a free ride, but they’ll have to pay it back to us in trade, because I’m not going to let that happen.”
