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‘They called me daddy’: Donald Trump's dig at NATO has an 'Iceland' gaffe
According to Donald Trump, the ask for Greenland, which he mixed up with Iceland, was “simple” compared to what the US has “given NATO”.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday reminded NATO of its Secretary General Mark Rutte's “daddy” remarks about him from last year, but ended up mixing Greenland with Iceland in a renewed push for acquiring the Danish autonomous territory.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump said NATO “loved" him until "a few days ago, calling Rutte "a very smart man" for his remarks about the Republican.
“I am helping Europe, NATO. Until the last few days, when I told them about Iceland, they loved me. They called me daddy. A very smart man said he is our daddy. He is running it. I went from running it to being a terrible human being. But now what I am asking for is a piece of ice. Cold and poorly located that can play a vital role in world peace and world protection,” Trump said in his Davos speech.
According to Trump, the ask for Greenland, which he mixed up with Iceland, was “simple” compared to what the US has “given NATO”.
"It's a very simple ask compared to what we have given them for many, many decades. The problem with NATO is that we will be there for them a 100%, but I am not sure that they will be there for us," he said.
What Mark Rutte had said
After the US struck the Iranian nuclear facilities during Tehran's conflict with Israel last June, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte made the “daddy” remark during light-hearted banter between the two leaders when Donald Trump compared the conflict to unruly children.
“They’ve had a big fight, like two kids in a schoolyard,” Trump said, adding, “You know, they fight like hell. You can’t stop them. Let them fight for about two, three minutes, then it’s easier to stop.”
Rutte replied with a quip: “And then Daddy has to sometimes use strong language.”
That “strong language” referred to Trump using the ‘f’ word in unusually profane remarks a few days earlier at the White House, expressing frustration over the fragile Iran-Israel ceasefire.
