--- title: Trump Embraces ‘Daddy’ Nickname description: After Trump was likened to a father figure at the NATO Summit, the White House posted a video to the soundtrack of Usher’s “Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home).” canonical: https://time.com/7297927/trump-daddy-nickname-nato-mark-rutte-john-daly-tucker-carlson/ author: Miranda Jeyaretnam article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-06-26T04:45:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T08:08:12.311Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Embraces ‘Daddy’ Nickname og:description: After Trump was likened to a father figure at the NATO Summit, the White House posted a video to the soundtrack of Usher’s “Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home).” og:url: https://time.com/7297927/trump-daddy-nickname-nato-mark-rutte-john-daly-tucker-carlson/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e657d812567fa8c/6998c7d225f3ee8bfa644c7b/trump-nato.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: NATO Summit In The Hague Final Day og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Embraces ‘Daddy’ Nickname twitter:description: After Trump was likened to a father figure at the NATO Summit, the White House posted a video to the soundtrack of Usher’s “Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home).” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e657d812567fa8c/6998c7d225f3ee8bfa644c7b/trump-nato.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Embraces ‘Daddy’ Nickname > Sponsored content. 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=7a4e207f-ed75-4b74-ba27-2ba18e698f33&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: From Trump Fighting Back on Iran Reports to Defense Spending Pledges, the Key Takeaways From the 2025 NATO Summit [Watch (HLS stream): From Trump Fighting Back on Iran Reports to Defense Spending Pledges, the Key Takeaways From the 2025 NATO Summit](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FY0Tmnea.m3u8) (2:12)  _Published 2025-06-25. In a week that dealt with the aftermath of the U.S. launching strikes on Iran, and the brokering of an Israel-Iran cease-fire, albeit a fragile one, global leaders put on a somewhat united front at the 2025 NATO Summit._  by [Miranda Jeyaretnam](https://time.com/author/miranda-jeyaretnam/)  ## Miranda Jeyaretnam Reporter Jun 26, 2025 4:45 AM UTC In a week that dealt with the aftermath of the U.S. launching strikes on Iran, and the brokering of an Israel-Iran cease-fire, albeit a fragile one, global leaders put on a somewhat united front at the 2025 NATO Summit.  by [Miranda Jeyaretnam](https://time.com/author/miranda-jeyaretnam/)  ## Miranda Jeyaretnam Reporter Jun 26, 2025 4:45 AM UTC Donald Trump loves to give nicknames. To himself ([Honest Don](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-nickname-for-himself%5Fn%5F65f04821e4b0bd5228d57b1b), [A Very Stable Genius](https://edition.cnn.com/2018/01/06/politics/donald-trump-white-house-fitness-very-stable-genius), [The King](https://time.com/7259662/king-trump-founding-fathers-constitution-monarchy-democracy-republic/)). To others ([Crooked Hillary](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/crooked-hillary-marco-donald-trumps-nicknames/story?id=39035114), [Sleepy Joe](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-06/from-twitter-to-tiktok-trump-supporters-spread-sleepy-joe), [Gavin Newscum](https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/trump-adds-another-nickname-to-his-arsenal-targeting-governor-gavin-newsom/)). Now he seems happy to take one: “Daddy.” The White House [posted](https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1938053287535616085) a video Wednesday night showing the U.S. President attending [the NATO summit this week](https://time.com/7297698/nato-2025-summit-trump-iran-ukraine-defense-topics/) to the soundtrack of R&B singer Usher’s 2010 song “Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home).” > [](https://twitter.com/whitehouse/status/1938053287535616085) The post was in apparent reference to [NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte](https://time.com/7295448/rutte-nato-secretary-general-interview/) appearing to call Trump “daddy” on Wednesday when asked about Trump’s [expletive-laced rebuke](https://time.com/7297315/ceasefire-iran-israel-trump-f-bomb/) of Israel and Iran after the two countries [risked upending](https://time.com/7297098/israel-iran-ceasefire-broken-missile-strikes-tehran/) a fragile [ceasefire he had just helped broker](https://time.com/7297049/iran-israel-ceasefire-trump/). “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f-ck they’re doing,” Trump [said](https://x.com/cspan/status/1937468807536169315) Tuesday as he left the White House for The Hague. “Daddy has to sometimes use strong language,” Rutte [said](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxzTg96RKOU), sitting beside Trump at the summit. > [](https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1937889870619304124) Rutte earlier lauded Trump, according to text messages Trump [posted](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114738606142462442) to his Truth Social platform, for [authorizing strikes](https://time.com/7296469/u-s-strikes-iran-nuclear-trump-war/) on three nuclear facilities in Iran over the weekend. When asked Wednesday about Rutte calling him “daddy,” Trump [said](https://www.nbcnews.com/video/trump-asked-about-nato-chief-mark-rutte-calling-him-daddy-242239045532): “He likes me. If he doesn’t, I’ll let you know, I’ll come back, and I’ll hit him hard.” “He did it very affectionately, ‘Daddy, you’re my daddy,’” Trump imitated. > [](https://twitter.com/olivialarinaldi/status/1937885768762139002) Rutte later tried to [clarify](https://x.com/reuters/status/1938060899639537856) that he did not mean to call Trump “daddy” but rather to liken Trump’s relationship to Europe to that of a father figure. “What I said is that sometimes, in Europe, I hear sometimes countries saying, ‘Hey, Mark, will the U.S. stay with us?’ And I said that sounds a little bit like a small child asking his daddy, ‘Hey, are you still staying with the family?’” It’s not the first time Trump’s been called daddy, and he seems to like it. In a 2023 interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, golfer John Daly [said](https://www.tiktok.com/@tuckercarlson/video/7312855307552853294) he and fellow golfers “want Daddy Trump back.” Trump posted about the reference on Truth Social [at the time](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/111586208943521719) and [again a few months later](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/112315147940969000). Daly [has said](https://youtube.com/shorts/d4fgQMUKhE0) he’s [called Trump “daddy”](https://youtu.be/5Iv7jrti9MQ) since the two met in 1992. Carlson also once compared Trump to a father figure at an October 2024 rally when he likened some of the American public to a “hormone-addled 15-year-old daughter” who’s been allowed to “slam the door and give you the finger.” “There has to be a point at which Dad comes home,” Carlson [said](https://youtube.com/shorts/9naoY75-g0g). “And when Dad gets home, you know what he says? ‘You’ve been a bad girl. You’ve been a bad little girl, and you’re getting a vigorous spanking right now.’” ## Transcript As you know, last weekend, the United States successfully carried out a massive precision strike on Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities. And it was very, very successful. It was called obliteration. No other military on earth could have done it. And now this incredible exercise of American strength has paved the way for peace with a historic cease fire agreement late Monday, and we call it the 12 Day War. I spoke to a few people. I guess that just sounded like the right the right name. It was a 12 day war and we think it's over. I don't think they're going to be going back at each other. I don't think so. Not only have we dealt decisively with the critical threat of Iran's nuclear program, which was what I wanted, I said, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. I've said that for 15 years, long before I decided to do the political thing. But we've also reasserted the credibility of American deterrence, which is like no other over the past two days. I was honored to participate in the NATO leaders meeting and also had extremely good discussions with the King and the Queen. Secretary general of the United States accounts for two thirds of all NATO defense spending. And since I began pushing for additional commitments in 2017, believe it or not, our allies have increased spending by $700 billion. I said to people, you don't have any money. And a lot of them weren't paying. And so I started the process and I picked it up as soon as I got back, which is six months ago. And following my election last November, almost all have accelerated plans to reach the 2%, 3%, 4% and then ultimately very quickly, 5%. Mark Rutter, the NATO chief, who is is your friend? He called you daddy earlier. Um, do you regard your NATO allies as kind of children? No, he likes me. I think he likes me. If he doesn't, I'll let you know. I'll come back and I'll hit him hard. Okay? But he did. He did it very affectionately. Daddy, you're my daddy. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7297927/trump-daddy-nickname-nato-mark-rutte-john-daly-tucker-carlson/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7297927/trump-daddy-nickname-nato-mark-rutte-john-daly-tucker-carlson/"},"headline":"Trump Embraces ‘Daddy’ Nickname","datePublished":"2025-06-26T04:45:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-19T08:08:12.311Z","description":"After Trump was likened to a father figure at the NATO Summit, the White House posted a video to the soundtrack of Usher’s “Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home).”","url":"https://time.com/7297927/trump-daddy-nickname-nato-mark-rutte-john-daly-tucker-carlson/","keywords":["Donald Trump","overnight","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e657d812567fa8c/6998c7d225f3ee8bfa644c7b/trump-nato.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Miranda Jeyaretnam","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/miranda-jeyaretnam/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e657d812567fa8c/6998c7d225f3ee8bfa644c7b/trump-nato.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"NATO Summit In The Hague Final Day","caption":"Donald Trump at NATO Summit In The Hague Final Day","creditText":"Jakub Porzycki—NurPhoto/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7297927/trump-daddy-nickname-nato-mark-rutte-john-daly-tucker-carlson/","name":"Trump Embraces ‘Daddy’ Nickname"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"From Trump Fighting Back on Iran Reports to Defense Spending Pledges, the Key Takeaways From the 2025 NATO Summit","description":"In a week that dealt with the aftermath of the U.S. launching strikes on Iran, and the brokering of an Israel-Iran cease-fire, albeit a fragile one, global leaders put on a somewhat united front at the 2025 NATO Summit.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/FY0Tmnea/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2025-06-25T21:30:55.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FY0Tmnea.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/7297927/trump-daddy-nickname-nato-mark-rutte-john-daly-tucker-carlson/","duration":"PT2M12S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/7297927/trump-daddy-nickname-nato-mark-rutte-john-daly-tucker-carlson/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```