Mark Rutte (Hague, 1957) used to presume that he went to the headquarters of the Dutch government by bike, as if he were a foot -aware citizen with physical exercise and climate change. It was the Prime Minister of Netherlands, liberal, and was characterized by raising the flag of the frugality In the European Union: that is, a new austerity – defined by the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and Sweden, with the support of Finland – to reduce the multiannual budgets of the EU and to resist that the recovery funds were not only loans and credits that would lead to further bullfighting the debt of the countries.
These were days when Routte presented himself in the European councils, in Brussels, with an apple as a symbol of that frugality that, deep down, was nothing more than a struggle of the richest north in the EU against the less rich south of the EU.
That Routte, in the background, is the same one that has been portrayed these days in The Hague, its city, where it has been the host of an allied summit characterized, precisely, by firing the expense in defense from 2% to 5% –3.5% in basic defense and 1.5% in expenses related to security -, with the impact that this will have on the public accounts of each country.
Routte no longer carries the frugality jacket, no longer expresses concern for debt and deficit, but keeps the power of the powerful, and shows a lot of concern for being functional to the true boss of NATO, the president of the United States, who, since January 20, 2025, is Donald Trump: to start, he has mounted a short summit, of just half a day Atlantic, when in other peaks there could be up to three. And, of course, folding to another requirement of Trump and degrading the presence of Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski, in relation to the last three summits.
Before Trump's return to the White House, NATO defended from 2%of defense expenditure to 3.5%, but the new US administration wanted more, wanted 5%, and the secretaries of defense were saying – hegseth
And Routte found a trick to content his superiors: they devised that 3.5% would be pure expense in defense, while in the additional 1.5% wider concepts would fit – as infrastructure – to sell the magical figure of 5% to the White House, and that formula was acceptable for the vast majority of the partners. Among those who feel close to Russia, those who are halcones of the defense and those who think that they better not fight with Washington and wait for the revision planned in 2029 to see if they have changed the screws and the situation can be redirected, only Spain raised aloud problems with 5%.
And that 5% appears in the final statement of the summit as a triumph for Trump in which Routte has been brought.
But not only that: Routte's adulation level to Trump has been evident in the messages that he sent a few hours before starting the Hague Summit and that the US president published through screenings on his social network. “You have achieved what no other US president could have in decades,” he told him on Tuesday in the messages in which he congratulates him for his “decisive action” in Iran, as well as for the agreement to shoot military spending up to 5% of the GDP of the allies.
“Congratulations and thanks for your decisive action in Iran, it was truly extraordinary and something that nobody would have dared to do,” Routte begins. “It gives us all security,” he says about the attack on nuclear facilities of the Islamic Republic: “Donald, you have led us to a very, very important moment for Europe and America, and the world. You have achieved something that no other president would have achieved in decades.”
That servility that Rutte shows in his private messages, is reproduced in public appearances with Trump, such as the press conference this Wednesday at the beginning of the summit in The Hague. In it, the NATO general secretary even puts himself on the side of the US president when he insults media such as the CNN and the New York Times for publishing a preliminary report of the Pentagon who considers the bombings about Iran were not as devastating as the US president and his political team announce.
“Before moving on to the issue of spending,” said Routte, “I want to recognize your decisive performance, you are a man of force, but also a man of peace, and the fact that he has now achieved this high fire between Israel and Iran seems worthy of praise, and I think it is important for everyone.”
In relation to spending, public praise are not minor, expressing their happiness to see the Republican in the Oval Office: “Without President Trump, this would not have happened. When you assumed the presidency in 2016-2017, he forced the Europeans and Canadians to pay more at that time. The result of that phase is an additional added expense in defense of 1 billion by Canadians and European Second phase, when you assumed the presidency in January, and consisted that all our countries that had not yet reached 2%, now compromised that 2%, which is the old goal of Wales in 2014. And today we will decide to go to 5%.
Of course, Routte, former European prime minister, who knows what Trump's first presidency compared to Biden's, does not even weigh when the president of the United States charges against his predecessor for free. “We have had a great relationship and we have worked on this issue (that of spending) for a long time; when Biden was here, he declined, like everything else, he died. And now it is you who is going to the vote today.”
“Actually, today we will decide unanimously,” he dares to timidly clarify a Trump that does not remember that the statements in NATO are not voted, but are approved by consensus. But the president of the United States does not listen to him, and insists: “We cannot talk about it (5% spending) until after the vote, because sometimes you know, weird things happen. But I think, I think you are going to do it very well.”
And while Trump stays comfortable accusing the CNN of giving “only false news” for publishing the Pentagon report that reduces the impact of bombings on Iran, that “he has no audience” and “it is a failed, shameful chain”, while saying that the MSNBC chain “is even worse”; and the cup of “slag; the cnn is slag; msnbc is slag; the New York Times is scum. They are bad people. They are sick. No one wants to even waste time going to their programs, so they allied with the New York Times, which is dying.”
While the US president is dispatched against the press, Routte decides that his role is to reinforce a Trump that does not support the non -servile media, and argues: “The good thing is that they eliminated Iran's nuclear capacity. This was crucial. You did it in an impressive way, and the rest of the world perceived that this president, when it comes to it, is a man of peace. Huge strength of the US army.
It is not the first time that Routte Calla while Trump dispatches. The NATO general secretary put himself in profile to the humiliation to which the US president submitted to Volodimir Zelenski in the oval office. Nothing was heard that could seem a criticism. Moreover, while the majority of allies, fundamentally those of the EU, shouted in the sky before Trump's intention to negotiate bilaterally with Vladimir Putin the end of the war in Ukraine, Rutte just thanked his negotiating efforts, which he has always valued.
Nor did he question that Trump was aligned with Putin in his plan to finish the war, which was going to recognize Crimea as Russian territory. That is a red line for Ukraine partners and supposed to go against what has been established by NATO itself. But Routte remained silent.
As he did while the US president threatened the sovereignty of Denmark, who is a member of the Atlantic Alliance, with his intention of annexing Greenland. And he repeated the insistence, which justifies in security reasons for the US in the Arctic, at a live meeting with Rutte at the White House. In fact, he said that the Dutch could be “instrumental” to facilitate that control. Rutte just said that NATO could not get involved in that.
One of the positive points that the majority of the partners of the Atlantic Alliance saw in Rutte was their ability to deal with Donald Trump when he was a prime minister of the Netherlands and, when his candidacy took strength for the General Secretariat, the threat of the return of the Republican to the White House was more than plausible. The Dutchman was baptized as “Trump whisper” at the 2018 NATO summit, when he calmed the US president in his fury against European countries, which he already demanded to increase the expense in defense. And now he gets rid of Trump as long as he has occasion. “Trump has been right many times. I agree, and he may be right many times in the future,” he said in an appearance in the European Parliament.
Now he is leaving in evidence that he is subject to the wishes of the Republican, who has broken down the rest of the allies, has questioned the commitment to article 5 of the Washington Treaty, which establishes the collective defense (the clause that establishes that, in case of attack on an ally, they all respond together) and even threatened to disregard the security of Europe.
“Europe will pay big,” Rutte told Trump in his private messages, in which he attributed exclusively the “victory” of having forced 5% of military spending for the whole of the allies.
And, now, more than whispering, Routte is making Trump a way of leading NATO.
