As the NATO alliance prepares to celebrate its 75th anniversary at this week’s summit in Washington, it is also gearing up to welcome its first new leader in a decade: a man experienced at dealing with former President Donald Trump that many hope can keep the alliance unified in the face of a swirl of challenges including a potential second Trump presidency.
Former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was formally selected as the next NATO secretary general in late June and will begin the job on October 1. He takes up the role from longtime NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, who has led the alliance since 2014.
Diplomats and officials who spoke with CNN said Rutte is seen as a staunch trans-Atlanticist and a consensus builder.
“He is really a seasoned political official, and this is essential to keep the cohesion of the alliance,” a European official said.
Rutte is also seen as someone who can work with whoever is elected US president, officials told CNN, and some hope that Rutte’s past relationship with Trump, from when they led their respective countries, could deter the former president from undermining the alliance if he is reelected.
The former president publicly railed against the alliance during his first term in office and did so again recently on the campaign trail, even going as far as suggesting Russia “do whatever the hell they want” to members who don’t meet defense spending targets. Trump’s stance on the campaign trail that his adherence to the alliance would be conditional has stirred concerns in the international community.
“Trump likes people that will push back, especially if they do it in a very respectful way,” said Pete Hoekstra, Trump’s ambassador to the Netherlands.
In a meeting where Trump was talking about the “trade deficit,” Hoekstra recalled, Rutte pushed back, “with a smile on his face,” that they did indeed need to address the trade deficit between the US and the Netherlands.
“It was just a very polite, slightly humorous way of dealing Trump, and Trump appreciated it,” Hoekstra recalled to CNN. “There was no, ‘You S.O.B.’ or anything like that. It was just, ‘Touche, Rutte, you got me.’”
Still, just because the former president and Rutte “have a good working relationship … because they genuinely like each other,” it does not mean that Trump will be deterred from “his agenda,” Hoekstra said.
The former ambassador argued that “Trump was never against NATO,” but rather “was against a NATO that the Europeans didn’t support,” referencing the fact that many European countries at the time did not contribute 2% of their GDP to defense.
A European diplomat told CNN that Rutte is “certainly not a superhero,” noting that “one may try to please Trump but not fool him, so ultimately what matters with NATO is real action and most importantly real money.”
A senior NATO official said that “a lot of allies are concerned” about the prospect of a Trump reelection, “but the story is positive.” Twenty-four out of 32 allies are meeting the 2% spending target; six are spending above 3%.
“We are not there yet, but it is better than when Trump left,” the official told CNN.
Rutte was not only cheered for the NATO secretary general job because of his experience with Trump. He was seen as someone who could get the support of all 32 members of the alliance, striking a balance between the more hawkish eastern Europe and more frugal western Europe, in part because of his more “middle ground” position on the war in Ukraine.
NATO member states will look to him to maintain the unity of alliance as the war drags on – with little sign of a quick diplomatic or military victory for Kyiv – as well on issues like countering the threat from China, ramping up weapons production, and innovation on cyber.
Diplomats and officials who spoke with CNN pointed to Rutte’s tenure as the longest-serving prime minister of the Netherlands – a job he left in early July after 14 years.
“He has had to manage various coalition governments in parliamentary democracy in his country, which is certainly no easy task,” a US official said.
A former senior US diplomat described him as a “very good politician (who) understands building coalitions and consensus, which is what this is going to all be about.”
Rutte was broadly considered as the front-runner to succeed Stoltenberg this year, and he was quickly supported by the US.
According to the US official, President Joe Biden even encouraged Rutte to run for secretary general about a year and half ago, when Stoltenberg was ready to step down, but Rutte signaled that he was not interested at that time.
Biden likes Rutte personally, they get along well, and the US president sees them as sharing the same values, the official told CNN. The two view the challenge from China in a similar way, and Biden was “very impressed with his commitment to supporting Ukraine from early on” and his immediate grasp of the stakes of the war in Ukraine.
“Rutte has been very realistic among European leaders for a long time about who exactly Putin is,” the official said.
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