White House video embraces ‘Daddy’ nickname for Trump after Nato chief’s remark
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
President Donald Trump in a discussion with Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte at the 2025 Nato Summit in The Hague on June 25.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
BRUSSELS - The White House embraced the moniker “Daddy” for Mr Donald Trump in a video that it released after Nato chief Mark Rutte used the term in a conversation with the US President.
“Daddy’s home,” the White House posted on social media platform X, along with the video, which featured the song Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home) by American singer Usher and images of Mr Trump at the Nato summit in The Hague.
Mr Rutte, the Dutch secretary-general of the military alliance, used the word “Daddy” in an appearance with Mr Trump at the summit on June 25 after the US President berated Israel and Iran for violating a ceasefire, which later appeared to be holding.
In response, Mr Rutte laughed and said: “And then Daddy has to sometimes use strong language to get (them to) stop.”
On June 24, Mr Trump said Iran and Israel had been fighting “so long and so hard that they don’t know what the (expletive) they’re doing”.
In an interview with Reuters after the summit, Mr Rutte said he had used the word “Daddy” to describe how some allies seem to view the United States, rather than it being about Mr Trump specifically.
“In Europe, I hear sometimes countries saying, ‘Hey, Mark, will the US stay with us?’ And I said that sounds a little bit like a small child asking his daddy, ‘Hey, are you still staying with the family?’” Mr Rutte said.
“So in that sense, I used Daddy, (it’s) not that I was calling President Trump Daddy.”
Asked if this meant other Nato members were like children who were now growing up after a pledge to spend more on defence, Mr Rutte said they “already have grown up” but realised they had to step up and “equalise” defence spending with the US. REUTERS