NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte praised President Trump as a “pragmatic peacemaker” in a Monday interview, after the U.S. president hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders at the White House for a “very successful” series of talks.
“Let me first say that this was a very successful day. I agree with you that President Trump is a pragmatic peacemaker,” Rutte told Fox News’s Laura Ingraham.
He touted Trump’s achievements with the military alliance, pointing to “what he did this year, breaking the deadlock, starting the conversation with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, but also putting pressure” by demanding NATO countries to spend 5 percent of their GDP on defense; by facilitating weapons shipments to Ukraine and by increasing tariffs on India over its purchasing of Russian oil.
“So, he’s putting pressure, but he is also looking for ways to solve this, to bring this war to an end,” Rutte said in his appearance on “The Ingraham Angle.”
The NATO leader also noted Trump was “amazing” behind closed doors and said the U.S. president was right in his criticism of the alliance.
“Well, he was amazing, and he is amazing. And let me tell you this, that his criticism of NATO was right,” Rutte said, adding “He always said that he supported NATO, but he also expected the Europeans to pay up, to spend more. He has been successful in doing this.”
“So today, the conversation was a conversation among friends, among close allies, who respect each other, who like each other, who know each other very well, discussing how we can bring this terrible war to an end,” he continued. “And this is a goal we all have in common.”
“Without President Trump,” the alliance chief added, “this deadlock with Putin would not have been broken. He was the only one who could do this, starting in February.”
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