‘Dear Donald’: Trump posts fawning private text from NATO chief on social media 

The message started by congratulating Donald Trump on his “decisive action in Iran” and then got even more flattering, gushing about reaching the precipice of achieving “something NO American president in decades could have done”.

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This wasn't an ardent supporter swooning or the president taking to social media to sing his own praises in his familiar ALL CAPS style. This was NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte heaping direct praise on Trump as he flew to a two-day NATO summit in the Netherlands.

“Mr. President, dear Donald,” Rutte's message began, as seen by a screenshot Trump posted on his social media network. “Congratulations and thank you for your decisive action in Iran, that was truly extraordinary, and something no one else dared to do. It makes us all safer.”

The fawning tone may have been an attempt to butter up Trump ahead of a key meeting — the kind of effusive praise that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has adopted lately in negotiating and then announcing a recent trade agreement between the United Kingdom and the US that is meant to ease Trump's promised steep tariffs on imported British goods.

Rutte continued, “You are flying into another big success in The Hague this evening. It was not easy but we've got them all signed onto 5 percent!” — a reference to other NATO member countries mostly having signed onto the new pledge to spend 5 per cent of their gross domestic product on defence, a demand the Republican president has pushed for months.

“Donald, you have driven us to a really, really important moment for America and Europe, and the world. You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done,” Rutte wrote.

“Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win. Safe travels and see you at His Majesty's dinner!”

NATO confirmed that the message came from Rutte and was sent on Tuesday. It declined to provide more details, like what platform the secretary-general used to send the message.

The message appeared, from the style of font and screen icons present in Trump's posting, that it could be the encrypted messaging app Signal, where communications can be set to auto-delete, raising questions about the potential difficulties of retaining them as official records as part of presidential archives.