"Daddy" Trump and NATO

PEOPLE at a media conference of the NATO Summit last week were astonished, according to Sky News, to hear Donald Trump addressed as "Daddy" by NATO head Mark Rutte.

- Oscar Wilde

But it was not quite at odds with the overriding theme of a day and a half of deference and diplomacy at The Hague.

Like it or not, the praise by Rutte, head of NATO, and by many other European allies appears to have paid off, with the US president seemingly back on board with the notion of collective defence at least for now, that is.

The display of affection toward Mr Trump came when he, along with Rutte, was speaking to the media about how he brokered a ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran.

"They've had a big fight, like two kids in a schoolyard," Trump said. "You know, they fight like hell. You can’t stop it. Let them fight for about two or three minutes and then it’s easy to stop them."

Rutte added: "And then Daddy has to sometimes use strong language to get it stopped."