It’s well known that if you wish to win over Donald Trump, all you have to do is apply a bit of flattery. World leaders have used this technique to handle the U.S. president since his first term and it seems NATO chief Mark Rutte has employed the same tactic, although it’s hard to tell if he’s just trying to butter up Trump of if he actually believes what he’s saying.
Trump shared a private message he apparently received from the Secretary General of NATO on Truth Social. The message from Rutte consists of glowing praise for the president. Mark starts out by congratulating Trump for his “decisive action in Iran,” stroking Trump’s massive ego, Rutte told him what he did was “extraordinary and something no one else dared to do.” Of course, we all know Rutte’s statement is bogus. So far Trump hasn’t been very useful, his ceasefire lasted a few hours and he’s being trolled by the Iranian Supreme Leader.
Moving on to the matter at hand, the NATO chief references the spending increase to 5% in defense budget which all allied nations have agreed to cough up, “Europe is going to pay in a BIG way and it will be your win.” Rutte then ends his lengthy message promising to see Trump at his Majesty’s dinner.
Trump posts what appears to be a fawning message from NATO chief Mark Rutte praising his ‘decisive action in Iran, that was truly extraordinary and something no one else dared to do’
— Alex Wickham (@alexwickham) June 24, 2025
Also says on defence spending: ‘Europe is going to pay in a big way and it will be your win’ pic.twitter.com/YU0E1eO0bL
Flattery always works on Donald Trump
No doubt Trump enjoyed receiving such a message as he loves being given unearned praise. He likely couldn’t wait to share Rutte’s words with the world. His post to Truth Social didn’t even come with a caption, it’s like Trump thought this text from Rutte would be enough to convince the rest of the world that he’s doing a good job.
On X people saw right through it. One person wrote, “Kind of makes you feel a bit ill to read this,” along with a screenshot of the text exchange.
Kind of makes you feel a bit ill to read this, but Mark Rutte knows how to manage Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/5unp1rTA2P
— Anthony LaMesa (@ajlamesa) June 24, 2025
In the replies others pointed out that Trump’s weakness is flattery with one person calling it “a MASTERPIECE of manipulation by Rutte.”
Was it really Rutte though?
Others expressed doubts over whether it was even Rutte who sent the message or if Trump was writing his own fan mail, “I think Trump did this himself. It is so far from Ruttes style, its hard to believe this was sent by him.”
Another person added “So Mark Ruttes types in exactly the way Trump speaks? Yeah, seems totes legit.”
You know what? Now that it’s been pointed out, it does kind of sound like Trump’s way of speaking and writing. The exaggeratory lines like “you are flying into another big success,” and the capitalization of certain words, particularly the “Europe is going to pay in a BIG way” line all sound like something the President would type out in a Truth Social rant.
So it’s either Rutte trying to flatter Trump or the president wrote the message himself. One would think the NATO chief would be quick to dispel any misinformation revolving around him, so it’s hard to imagine he didn’t send the message. However, it does seem like he’s making use of Trump’s style to perhaps manipulate him.
