Trump On NATO: ‘They Call Me Daddy’

Among the more notable and amusing moments from President Trump’s newly published interview with Politico is when he stated that NATO officials refer to him as “Daddy” after being proven right on the need to bolster collective defense funding through increased European budgets.

This tough approach, heavily vocalized during his first term – and subject of immense pushback from European leaders at the time, is now by and large being belatedly (and now urgently) embraced as Europe ramps up defense investments amid the griding Russia-Ukraine war. 

“NATO calls me Daddy,” Trump said in the interview, highlighting that Europe has relied much too heavily on American military might and funding for decades.

Trump’s “daddy” remark came in the following context:

Burns pressed Trump on whether he would get “involved in European elections” as a result of what he was seeing, to which the president said he was already involved in Europe but wants to “run” the U.S.

In the middle of the line of questioning, Trump joked: “NATO calls me daddy.”

He pointed out that it was his urgings alone which boosted projected NATO spending “from 2% to 5%” – far surpassing the longtime NATO benchmark of 2% of GDP on defense. 

“I mean, I have a lot to say about it. Look, I raised, you know, GDP from 2 percent to 5%; the 2 % they weren’t paying and the 5% they are paying. And they’re paying it because when we send things over, NATO pays for it, and I assume they give it to Ukraine,” Trump explained.

Watch the comments on the US relationship to NATO unfold…

.@POTUS: “I want to run the United States. I don’t want to run Europe. I’m involved in Europe very much. NATO calls me ‘Daddy.'” 🤣 pic.twitter.com/FWjlkww4Xb

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) December 9, 2025

“But Europe is being destroyed,” he added in reference to his prior commentary on unchecked immigration, leftist censorship policies, and EU centralization which has brought about decline in democracies.

Previously, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte somewhat awkwardly praised Trump as “a man of strength and peace” before awkwardly stating: “Sometimes, daddy has to use strong words.”

Rutte later tried to distance himself from his casual remarks at a NATO presser back in June, claiming he wasn’t directly talking about Trump in the daddy comments…