CBS EVENING NEWS PLUS
6/25/25
7:27 PM
JOHN DICKERSON: There usually isn't much daddy talk at a NATO summit. But when Secretary General Mark Rutte jokingly referred to Donald Trump as “Daddy", it marked a new chapter for the alliance that has spent years recalibrating its relationship with the president. At his first summit in 2017, Trump shoved Montenegro's leader aside to muscle into a photo. His dismissive remarks led German chancellor Angela Merkel to warn Europe that it must, quote, “take our fate into our own hands”. This time, Rutte met Trump with effusive praise for his strikes on Iran and kept up the flattery until Air Force One's wheels left the ground. Referring to Trump as daddy who can quiet the kids in Iran and Israel might sound glib, especially given the human cost of those conflicts, but NATO's chief is a pragmatist. It's an organization based on keeping security commitments, so it needs the leader of the largest donor, who just backed up his commitment to the security of Israel by dropping bombs no other nation has. There was more than flattery, though. A longstanding Trump demand was met. Every member nation except one pledged to pay 5% of GDP to NATO, more than double the old target. That mix of dollars and deference paid off. Trump evangelized for the necessity of NATO, referred to it as an extension of the leaders’ love of their countries, and reversed his old charge that NATO was a ripoff. Most important, he agreed that an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all.
DONALD TRUMP: When I came here, I came here because there was something I'm supposed to be doing, but I left here a little bit different. Differently.
DICKERSON: Nice words are nice. Both sides can feel like they scored a win. But will America stand up to Russia? Will those 5% checks arrive? Alliances, like parenthood, are about showing up when it's hard, not vanishing like some deadbeat dad when commitments come due. And that's tonight's CBS Evening News Plus.
