Trump whisperer confronted to his face about 'self-respect' after president's tirade

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was pressed Wednesday on whether staying silent beside President Donald Trump costs him his self-respect, at the closing news conference of the alliance's summit in Ankara, Turkey.

A reporter noted that Rutte sits next to Trump as the president muses about taking Greenland, lashes out at allies like Spain and threatens trade wars — positions the questioner said the "old Mark Rutte" would not have endorsed.

"You sit next to Donald Trump in moments where he talks about conquering Greenland, talks about lashing out at allies like Spain, starting trade wars, things that it doesn't seem like the old Mark Rutte would approve of. Does this have any effect on your self-respect when you sit next to him and say nothing?" the reporter asked, pointedly.

Rutte did not answer the question directly. "What I always do is acknowledge when praise is due," he replied. "And I think we should praise Donald Trump for the fact that NATO is so much stronger."

The exchange capped a summit Trump repeatedly upended. Seated beside Rutte earlier, Trump called Spain "a terrible partner in NATO" and demanded the U.S. "cut off all trade" with the country. He again insisted Washington should control Greenland, a semiautonomous Danish territory, and declared the fragile ceasefire with Iran "over."

Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister, has built a reputation for flattering Trump to keep Washington anchored to the alliance. At last year's summit he likened the president to a "daddy," and last month he unveiled a gold-lettered "Trump Trillion" chart in the Oval Office crediting Trump for higher European defense spending, an approach that earned him the label "Trump whisperer."

After the meeting, Rutte brushed past the friction, telling reporters the alliance felt "more together than ever" and that there was "complete commitment of the United States to NATO." Denmark and Greenland have said their sovereignty is "not negotiable."