At the Munich “Reality Check,” held February 13–14, 2026, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte delivered a blunt message to European leaders and the global press. In a doorstep address at the Munich Security Conference, he said the era of “worrying about the U.S.” must end. Rather than distancing himself from President Donald Trump’s criticism, Rutte credited Trump’s “wake-up call” for making NATO “stronger than ever since the fall of the Berlin Wall.”
Rutte argued that Trump’s pressure eliminated the long-standing defense spending gap that strained the alliance and anchored the United States more firmly in NATO. Allies are now working toward a 5 percent of GDP defense target, agreed upon at the June 2025 Hague Summit, a dramatic leap from the old 2 percent benchmark.
He has repeated this praise throughout the year. At the June 25, 2025 Hague summit, Rutte addressed Trump as “dear Donald” and said, “You made this change possible. Your leadership has already produced $1 trillion in extra spending from European allies since 2016.”
In Davos on January 21, 2026, he said there was “no way” major European economies would have met even the earlier 2 percent commitments without Trump’s sustained pressure. Days later in the European Parliament, he told leaders that those who believed Europe could defend itself without the United States should “keep on dreaming.”
Addressing his viral June 2025 “Daddy” remark, which resurfaced again in February, Rutte clarified that he sees the United States as the “father” of the NATO family and that “sometimes Daddy has to use strong language” to push Europe to take responsibility for its own defense.
While Rutte has found success with Trump, the 5% “Hague Commitment” has created a deep rift within the EU. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has been the most vocal critic, calling the 5% target “unreasonable” and “incompatible with the welfare state.”
Trump’s response was characteristically blunt. He threatened to make Madrid “pay twice as much” in bilateral trade deals if it did not fall in line, underscoring his view that the days of America extending welfare to the world are over.
The Davos event became the turning point in what is now known as the Davos Greenland Framework. In mid-January 2026, President Trump had threatened 10 percent tariffs, rising to 25 percent, on eight European nations, arguing they were blocking U.S. efforts to secure Greenland. On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte reframed Greenland as a NATO security requirement rather than a sovereignty dispute. Shortly afterward, Trump announced he would withdraw the February 1 tariff threat, stating, “We have a framework. Based on this understanding, I will not be imposing the tariffs.”
Under the framework, Denmark retains formal sovereignty over Greenland, but the United States gains sovereign-like control over designated military zones, similar to British arrangements in Cyprus. The agreement also includes strict investment screening provisions that effectively give Washington veto power over Chinese or Russian infrastructure projects on the island.
Military analysts describe Greenland as the operational fulcrum of the proposed Golden Dome missile defense system. Because major missile threats to the U.S. mainland follow a Great Circle route over the North Pole, Greenland provides ideal geography for a second line of defense. Sovereign-like access allows the United States to establish the high-latitude ground stations necessary for space-based interceptors, strengthening Arctic missile defense coverage.
Securing Greenland aligns with the 2026 National Defense Strategy, which shifts U.S. priorities toward defending the homeland and the Western Hemisphere, including key Arctic terrain. The strategy emphasizes guaranteeing military and commercial access across the hemisphere, a modern extension of the Monroe Doctrine often referred to as the “Trump Corollary,” aimed at preventing rival powers from dominating critical geography such as Greenland.
In practical terms, Trump achieved nearly everything he sought. NATO is spending more on defense, reducing pressure on U.S. taxpayers. The United States secured strategic Arctic positioning without purchasing Greenland or assuming responsibility for its civilian governance. By using tariff leverage to achieve military and territorial objectives, Trump demonstrated a model that is now shaping his second-term foreign policy.
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