Mark Rutte

The Dutch called their former PM Mr Teflon. The world now knows him as Nato's Trump whisperer, writes Andrew Anthony

- Andrew Anthony

In the Netherlands, where he remains the country's longest ever serving prime minister, Mark Rutte earned the nickname during his almost 14 years in office of Mr Teflon. It was a testament to his gift for emerging unscathed, and still in power, from the wreckage of several collapsed coalitions.

As secretary general of Nato, which is a coalition of 32 nations, it's a talent that may well come in handy. With both Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping intent on further militarisation, and Donald Trump sending out mixed messages regarding America's willingness to support Nato, Rutte's appointment last October coincided with one of the most uncertain and challenging periods in the organisation's history.

"There was war in Europe," says Camille Grand, a former assistant secretary general of Nato who now works for the European Council on Foreign Relations, "which was not the case for any of his predecessors."

Of course there was also then the prospect of Trump's election, and with it the potential for an existential crisis within Nato. There have subsequently been several times, not least in relation to the US president's willingness to give Putin the benefit of other Nato members' doubt, when that crisis has threatened to materialise.

But last week the commitments Trump made to supporting Ukraine in a White House meeting with Rutte were seen as a big step forward. Having been criticised for a fawning approach to the president, after he'd jokingly referred to him as "Daddy" at a Nato summit last month, Rutte now seems to have secured his reputation as a "Trump whisperer", someone who can read the mercurial president's mood and gently direct him towards more conventional policy positions.