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- New NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte visited the UK on Thursday.
- Rutte met with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
- “Stop worrying about a Trump presidency,” Rutte told reporters outside Downing Street.
Mark Rutte addressed the prospect of a second Trump presidency during his first official visit to London as NATO Secretary General on Thursday.
Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister, was in the capital to meet with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Speaking to reporters outside 10 Downing Street, Rutte said: “I know that he (Trump) understands completely, and agrees with me that this fight in Ukraine is not only about Ukraine, it’s also about the safety and the future security of the United States. He knows this.”
“So, really, stop worrying about a Trump presidency. We do not know who will win. I will work with Kamala Harris if she is chosen, I will work with Donald Trump if he is chosen,” he added.
Pressed by a reporter on whether he’s worried about the US potentially withdrawing support for Ukraine, Rutte said: “I am not worried about that because I am absolutely convinced that the US is in this because they understand it is not only for Ukraine but also for them, and that from Washington to San Francisco, the whole of the US will be less secure if Putin would be successful in Ukraine.”
Before taking the helm at NATO, Rutte was the prime minister of the Netherlands for 14 years, during which time he developed a reputation as a “Trump whisperer.”
He earned the nickname after successfully placating Trump during a 2018 meeting in which the former president warned that the US would go its “own way” if other countries did not start spending more on their militaries, per Politico.
Rachel Rizzo, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center, previously said that Rutte could help “Trump-proof” NATO.
“He’s seen as cool, calm, and collected. He knows how to handle big egos, he’s worked with Trump before (even praising him at times), and he understands the need for European allies to increase their share of the burden of European security,” Rizzo said.
Rutte also answered questions about the potential use of Western-donated weapons to carry out long strikes on Russia — something Zelenskyy has long requested.
“That is up to the allies,” Rutte said.
In a post on X following their meeting in London, Zelenskyy said the trio had discussed “Euro-Atlantic integration and the military reinforcement of Ukraine.”
