NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is an interesting guy. While some European leaders continue to go toe-to-toe with President Donald Trump — or try — over Greenland, and the president's in-your-face style, the Dutch secretary general, who is a former prime minister of the Netherlands, has had a chummy relationship with Trump since he was first elected to the White House in 2016.
At the time, when Rutte was still the Netherlands' PM, their interactions were driven by a need for cooperation between the two nations. Yet, as much of Europe continues to ignore reality, Rutte on Monday said the proverbial quiet part out loud, and crystal clear:
The continent is “dreaming” if it thinks it can defend itself without U.S. muscle. Rutte warned the European Union that it would need to more than double its current military spending targets just to match America’s role in protecting Europe.
Translation: After decades of lectures about “autonomy” and “strategic independence,” the E.U. still can’t adequately defend itself. Thus, American taxpayers continue to foot a disproportionate part of the bill, while ever-smug European leaders claim the moral high ground.
But do they really have it? Of course not.
Here's Rutte, in no uncertain terms:
If anyone thinks here … that the European Union or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the U.S., keep on dreaming. You can’t. We can't. We need each other.
Ouch — and true. And if Europe thinks it can "go it alone," Rutte really went bottom-line:
If you really want to go it alone, forget that you can ever get there with 5 percent [of GDP earmarked for defense spending]. It will be 10 percent. You have to build up your own nuclear capability. That costs billions and billions of euros.
Doubling down, the NATO chief told European lawmakers that without the military might of the U.S. behind them, Europe “would lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, which is the U.S. nuclear umbrella. So, hey, good luck!”
Nicely put, and it's reality; regardless of what smug European leaders believe — at least publicly, that is.
🚨 HOLY SMOKES. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte just dropped TRUTH NUKES on Europe — and he’s siding with Trump.
— ⁿᵉʷˢ Barron Trump 🇺🇸 (@BarronTNews_) January 26, 2026
“If anyone thinks the European Union or Europe can defend itself without the U.S., KEEP ON DREAMING. You can’t. We can’t.”
And it gets better.
“Europe — if you… pic.twitter.com/KOswFxGkeD
Here's the background, via AP:
Tensions are festering within NATO over U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed threats in recent weeks to annex Greenland, which is a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark.
The 32-nation military organization is bound together by a mutual defense clause, Article 5 of NATO’s founding Washington treaty, which commits every country to come to the defense of an ally whose territory is under threat.
France has led calls for Europe to build its “strategic autonomy,” and support for its stance has grown since the Trump administration warned last year that its security priorities lie elsewhere and that the Europeans would have to fend for themselves.
I've made the point over the years that the United States saved Europe from itself twice in the 20th century.
That said, given the ever-growing global threat of China, the destabilizing behavior of the little dictator (Vladimir Putin) in Russia, and the growing threat from global terrorist organizations, it would be very unwise for any member nation of the European Union to buy into France's pipe dream about "strategic autonomy."
Then again, France is France.
Rutte's full remarks on Europe's security:
ALSO READ: NATO Chief Rutte: Brace for World War With Russia
Italy's Giorgia Meloni Showing She Is Sticking With Trump, U.S. Despite EU Tensions Over Greenland
Reality sometimes bites. Particularly for those who continue to ignore reality, and/or fancy themselves as far more powerful than they are.
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