Why is NATO’s Secretary-General calling Trump “DADDY"?

The News Agents

Global

Daily News, News, Government, Politics

4.2 • 4.3K Ratings

🗓️ 25 June 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The atmosphere here at the NATO summit has been little short of obsequious towards President Trump. Leaders have worked out that if they want US buy-in to NATO they have to commit to Trump’s spending demands, and flatter him into believing he is the only person who can make things happen.

Well, so far it seems to be working. The US has renewed its commitment to defending other NATO countries. And the language has been expletive free.

But why are NATO leaders refusing to mention Russian aggression? Will they just end up looking scared? We talk to Estonia's defence secretary and the global historian, Peter Frankopan, author of Silk Roads

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Newsagents podcast is brought to you by HSBC UK, opening up a world of opportunity.
0:09.6	This is a global player original podcast.
0:12.8	We've got a big fight like two kids in a school yard.
0:15.2	You know, they fight like hell.
0:16.5	You can't stop them.
0:17.5	Let them fight for about two, three minutes.
0:19.6	Then it's easier to stop them.
0:20.9	And then daddy has to sometimes use strong language. You have to use strong language. Every once in a
0:26.3	certain word. That was the NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutter, sitting beside President Trump,
0:31.6	calling him Daddy in so many words. It gives you a sense of the fear and flattery that has dominated this second
0:40.3	day of the NATO summit. We've never seen a NATO summit, perhaps any summit quite like this.
0:47.0	European and NATO leaders treating Donald Trump not so much as a fellow leader, but as something
0:53.4	more akin to a world king.
0:56.1	Has it worked? Has it achieved its objective, which is to make sure that if attacked, Donald Trump would send American forces to protect the rest of us.
1:04.8	Welcome to the newsagents.
1:12.1	The news agents. It's Emily. It's Lewis. And it is chaos. And it's everyone. The News Agents.
1:13.1	It's Emily.
1:13.8	It's Lewis.
1:14.6	And it is chaos. And it's everybody else.
1:15.8	It's literally everyone else.
1:17.0	We are at meeting point one in the centre of the media centre.
1:20.2	At least it's meeting point one.
	...

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