Sky News reporter Deborah Haynes asked President Trump about NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte referring to him as “daddy” at a summit on Wednesday, and whether Trump treats his NATO allies like “children.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio and “Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth laughed in the background as Trump answered:

DEBORAH HAYNES, SKY NEWS: Mark Rutte, the NATO chief who is your friend-he called you “daddy” earlier. Do you regard your NATO allies as kind of children? DONALD TRUMP: No, he likes me. I think he likes me. If he doesn’t, I’ll let you know. I’ll come back and I’ll hit him hard, OK? He was very affectionate. “Daddy, you’re my daddy.” DEBORAH HAYNES: Do you regard your NATO allies, though, as kind of like children-listening to you, and they’re spending more, and you’re obviously appreciative of that. But do you hope that actually they’re going to be able to defend themselves, defend Europe, on their own? DONALD TRUMP: I think they need help a little bit at the beginning, and I think they’ll be able to. And I think they’re going to remember this day. This was a big day-you know, this was a very big day. They took it. One of the gentlemen said, “You know what, we’ve been trying to raise money-raise the rate-for 30 years,” he said. “20 years, from almost the beginning.” And he’s been there for a long time. He said, “Until you came along, it never happened. What you did is amazing.” It’s been sort of an amazing day for a lot of reasons, but also for that. DEBORAH HAYNES: You think they can do it without you though in the future? Can they do it? DONALD TRUMP: Well, ask Mark. I mean, you have to ask Mark, OK? So, we’re heading back. We’re heading back. I want to thank these two gentlemen behind me. They’re incredible people, both of them. They’ve done a fantastic job. And Susie’s in the front, and she’s done great. And Monica, thank you very much. It was quite an exciting time. And we’re gonna be heading back. We’ll be back soon, and we’ll see you in Washington, D.C.

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