Sawt Falasteen - NATO's 'Trump whisperer' treads carefully on Greenland and defense

The former Dutch prime minister visited the White House seeking to convince a skeptical Donald Trump to maintain US commitment to the transatlantic alliance and to Ukraine.

Trump opened by praising Rutte -- who has gained a reputation for being able to manage the mercurial president -- for doing a "fantastic job" in the new role he took on just a few months ago.

But Trump was soon on a favorite topic about allies failing to meet spending targets. He then embarked on a new one -- his plan to absorb Greenland, an autonomous territory of founding NATO member Denmark.

"I think it will happen," Trump said, before gesturing towards Rutte with his thumb and adding: "I didn't give it much thought before but I'm sitting with a man that could be very instrumental" in the move.

Trump then added: "You know Mark, we need that for international security... we have a lot of our favorite players cruising around the coast and we have to be careful," he said, referring to rising Chinese and Russian interest in the Arctic region.

The NATO chief flashed an embarrassed grin and sat back in his armchair, legs crossed, as he said that he wanted to remain "outside this discussion" of Greenland joining the United States or not.

"I don't want to drag NATO in that," he said.

But the ever diplomatic Rutte then backed up Trump's point about Russian and Chinese interest in the Arctic region.

- 'NATO is stepping up' -

A veteran of European Union politics as the bloc dealt with Trump's first term, Rutte now faces a difficult balancing act keeping Trump onside when it comes to NATO in his second.

The US president has repeatedly called into question whether Washington would defend allies who do not boost their defense spending, causing major jitters in Europe.

Trump has previously called for allies to lift annual defense spending to five percent of GDP from the current two-percent target, which NATO expected only 23 of 32 members to meet last year.

Trump reiterated his criticisms on Thursday but seemed more keen to talk about how, in his account, he managed to get NATO countries to pay more during his first presidency.

"When I first went to NATO ... I noticed that very few people were paying," he said. "I was able to raise hundreds of billions of dollars... the money started pouring in and NATO became much stronger because of my actions."

He also praised Rutte, adding: "NATO is stepping up. This man is a man that only knows how to step up."

In 2018, the plain-speaking Rutte went viral after loudly saying "no" and contradicting Trump in the Oval Office when they were talking about an EU trade deal -- but this time he was more diplomatic.

He stressed how core NATO nations including Britain and Germany were now committing to increase defense spending.

The NATO boss also supported Trump's efforts to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, saying: "Breaking the deadlock, it was crucial."

There was no mention however of Rutte's own role in recent weeks after he helped resolve a blazing row in the Oval between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier this month.

Trump and Rutte's next meeting could come when the Netherlands hosts the 2025 NATO summit later this year.

"The Hague is my home town," said Rutte.

"I would love to host you there in the summer and work together to make sure that it will be a splash -- a real success projecting American power on the world stage."

J.AbuShaban--SF-PST