The White House recently released a video that fully endorsed referring to President Donald Trump as “daddy,” in response to NATO leader Mark Rutte’s earlier use of the word while speaking with the U.S. president during a summit. Yep, after he brought war to America and was publicly humiliated by Iran and Israel, this weird PR move only makes it harder to see him as a leader.
This strange video, posted on X, played Usher’s song Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home) while showing a series of pictures from Trump’s time at the NATO summit in The Hague. The White House’s caption, “Daddy’s home,” made it clear that the song choice was tied to Rutte’s comment.
As found by TMZ, the reason NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte first said “daddy” came during a public appearance with President Trump at the summit. Trump had been talking about the conflict between Israel and Iran, saying the two countries had been fighting “so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f*** they’re doing,” even though a ceasefire seemed to be holding. Reacting to Trump’s strong words, Rutte joked, “And then daddy has to sometimes use strong language to get (them to) stop.”
This back-and-forth, caught on camera during their public discussion, quickly got people’s attention. Right after this notable moment, the White House jumped on the “daddy” nickname with their promotional video. The clip, which was over a minute long and posted on X, showed different scenes of Trump at the NATO summit. It’s hard to take this seriously anyway, especially when Trump goes on social media rampages.
Trump goes all-in on the ‘daddy’ comment
The video included him walking down the long stairs from Air Force One, riding past crowds in a motorcade, and arriving at the summit location in a black limo. As Trump stepped out of the car, the words “Daddy’s Home” appeared on the screen. The video then switched to inside the event, showing Trump and his team, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, meeting with other world leaders.
The whole sequence was set to Usher’s 2010 hit song Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home), which played the entire time, making it clear the White House was having fun with the nickname. However, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte later explained what he meant when he said “daddy.” In an interview after the summit, Rutte said he wasn’t actually calling President Trump “daddy” directly.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 26, 2025
Daddy’s home… Hey, hey, hey, Daddy.
President Donald J. Trump attended the NATO Summit in The Hague, Netherlands. pic.twitter.com/asJb5FD2Ii
Instead, he was using the word to describe how some European allies see the United States in the military alliance. Rutte went on to say that he sometimes hears European countries wondering if the U.S. will keep supporting them, asking things like, “Hey, Mark, will the U.S. stay with us?” He compared this to “a small child asking his daddy, ‘Hey, are you still staying with the family?'” Rutte stressed that he was using the term in this symbolic way, showing how allies look to the U.S. for reassurance, not as a direct name for Trump.
When asked if this meant other NATO members were like children, Rutte said they “already have grown up.” He made it clear that the Allies understood they needed to spend more on defense and balance it with what the United States contributed.
