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Mark Rutte
Secretary General of NATO, NATO

LIVE: Trump & NATO Chief Mark Rutte Speak to Reporters After Summit | Trump Live | NATO Summit 2026

📅 Jul 08, 2026 CNN-News18 26 MIN 1419 VIEWS 53 SEGMENTS · 4 SPEAKERS
U.S. President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte address reporters following the NATO Leaders' Summit. Watch live as they deliver remarks and answer questions on key issues discussed during the summit, including NATO security, defense cooperation, Ukraine, global conflicts, and the alliance's future priorities. #NATO #DonaldTrump #Trump #BreakingNews #WorldNews #NATOSummit #Geopolitics #USPolitics #CurrentAffairs #NewsUpdate #GlobalSecurity #Europe #Diplomacy n18oc_live CNN-News18 is your trusted source for breaking news, updates, and in-depth analysis from around the world...

What Mark Rutte said

Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.

Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary General, praised President Trump's actions on Iran, calling the degradation of Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities 'absolutely necessary' and a 'very strong response.' He highlighted that Canada and European NATO nations increased defense spending by $215 billion in 2024-2026 compared to 2024, supporting nearly 200,000 US jobs. Rutte noted 5,000 planes from European airports supported 'Epic Fury,' with Germany and France helping from day one, though Italy and the UK had issues. He credited Trump for pushing allies, including Spain reaching 2% GDP, and the UK committing an extra £15 billion. Rutte confirmed a Davos deal on Greenland, allowing US deployment of 'Golden Dome,' with trilateral talks led by Marco Rubio. He called the total spending increase 'the Trump trillion,' over $1.2 trillion, and said without Trump it wouldn't have happened.

Key takeaways

  1. Rutte endorsed Trump's Iran strikes as 'absolutely necessary' and a 'very strong response.'
  2. Canada and European NATO allies increased defense spending by $215 billion in 2024-2026, supporting nearly 200,000 US jobs.
  3. Rutte confirmed a Davos deal allowing US deployment of 'Golden Dome' on Greenland, with trilateral talks led by Marco Rubio.
  4. Rutte credited Trump for Spain reaching 2% GDP and the UK committing an extra £15 billion on defense.
  5. Rutte called the total allied spending increase 'the Trump trillion,' over $1.2 trillion.

Numbers and commitments

FigureWhat it refers toTypeAt
$215 billion Increase in defense spending by Canada and European NATO nations in 2024-2026 metric 6:39
200,000 US jobs supported by allied defense investments metric 6:39
5,000 Planes from European airports supporting Epic Fury metric 6:39
£15 billion UK's additional defense spending commitment commitment 8:57
$1.2 trillion Total extra spending by Canada and European NATO allies metric 10:59

Chapters

  1. 0:00Praise for Iran strikes
  2. 8:57UK defense commitment
  3. 10:59Trump's role in allied spending

Questions asked in this interview

3
  1. 6:05So Mark, would you say a few words?
  2. 9:43I wouldn't have given the Panama Canal back either, you know. So, what do I know?
  3. 20:24And then we gave it back, which is I don't know why I wouldn't have given the Panama Canal back either, you know. So, what do I know?
Unknown 0:07 ↗
That's get heat heat amen the robot has been heat heat heat heat yeah this is actually heat heat heat heat heat heat heat heat excuse me let me know.
Donald Trump 6:05 ↗
So, I appreciate you being here. We're going to be going back together, many of us together. And again, I want to say despite the fact that I'm very upset with NATO that we pay far too much, billions and billions of dollars too much because it's unfair because we're protecting them. So we protect them but they're not there for us. Think of it doesn't work. But I want to say this is a great leader. They're lucky they have him. It's their biggest asset. You want to know the truth? So Mark, would you say a few words?
Mark Rutte 6:39 ↗
Absolutely. And thank you so much, Mr. President. Dear Donald, let me start with Iran. We discussed it last night at the presidential palace. I think what you did degrading the nuclear capability crucial for Israel, the region, for Europe, degrading the ballistic missile capability of Iran, crucial for Israel, for the region, for you, for the whole world. And then trying to bring this to a peaceful end. They attacking ships yesterday. I think what you did last night was absolutely necessary. It was a very strong response. And I'm with you on this. It's really important when it comes to NATO. What you have achieved and this is a huge win and I just want to say this again. The last two years, Canada and European NATO nations spending $215 billion more in 2024 and 2025 and 2026 compared to 2024. This is staggering $258 billion. In the meantime, almost 200,000 jobs in the US being supported by all the investments by countries in the United States in the defense industry base buying from the defense industry base from the US companies. So here you see you have been able to really get them to step up to do this. And when it comes to Iran, I know you are disappointed. We discussed it a couple of weeks ago. I would say these are isolated cases. 5,000 planes taking off from European airports in support of Epic Fury. It was Europe as one big platform of power projection for the United States helping with Epic Fury including countries you mentioned Germany from day one, France and many others. We discussed the Bucharest airport which was closed for a couple of days for commercial traffic because you needed it for Epic Fury and they were
Donald Trump 8:31 ↗
The United Kingdom wouldn't let us use the island for two weeks so we had to fly back. No, no, so I'm saying you're right isolated.
Mark Rutte 8:37 ↗
And Italy was very bad having to do with their bases as you know and a couple of others. So it
Donald Trump 8:42 ↗
But still generally 5,000 is huge and you mentioned Spain even you got Spain to pay 2%. They made a huge step last year. So there are still issues we have to solve but hey, also even on Spain I would say they got to the 2%.
Mark Rutte 8:57 ↗
And I know you have a very strong relationship with the United Kingdom, the king, but also you personally already with Karma who is now leaving office. He has now also committed to spend another 20 billion extra 15 billion pounds on defense. So I would argue without you in this chair this would not have happened. It is of course because of Russia but also because of you. So grab to win. It's there. You did this. It was the Hake and now they are implementing it. And on Greenland you and I made a deal in Davos. I will make sure that that deal is step by step being implemented that you can deploy if you want the golden dome on Greenland. You have your trilateral talks. Marco was leading them from your side with the Greenlanders and the Danes when it comes to if they will change their constitutional position in the kingdom etc. But hey,
Donald Trump 9:43 ↗
I mean just so they Greenland is very important for the United States but it's not important for Denmark. In fact, when Denmark was overrun by the Nazis in less than one day, Hitler beat them out in one day, took over, and they asked us to take care of Greenland. In fact, we took Greenland and then stupidly we gave it back. We shouldn't have given it back to them because we're the ones that need it. We need it for protection of the world, not just the United States. And it's very important. It doesn't help Denmark, but it helps us. And it's very important for us. And again, they were defeated very quickly. Denmark was beaten in one day, less than one day by the Nazis, by Hitler. And when this happened, they immediately switched it over to us. We owned it. We had it. We were taking care of it. And then we gave it back, which is I don't know why. I wouldn't have given the Panama Canal back either, you know. So, what do I know? I certainly wouldn't have done that because China's tried to take over the Panama Canal and that's not going to happen. So, but I just, you know, it's interesting. I'm very unhappy with NATO and yet this man is a great leader and he gets it. He gets it maybe better than some of the leaders.
Mark Rutte 10:52 ↗
And also that your allies get it thanks to you and that is important. I could not do this without you.
Donald Trump 10:56 ↗
It's too bad Biden didn't do it or Obama.
Mark Rutte 10:59 ↗
Hey, but you were here now and your entrance 47 in total more than $1.2 trillion. I call this the Trump trillion.
Donald Trump 11:08 ↗
No, it's true. 1.2 those extra spend by Canada and the
Mark Rutte 11:11 ↗
And I'm not only blaming NATO they're getting a free ride
Donald Trump 11:15 ↗
And if Biden had any brain which he didn't he would have said you got to pay more and same with Obama two bad presidents but they could have asked and you would have done that too it would have been I mean who knows but who knows happened and it is a huge
Mark Rutte 11:30 ↗
It should have happened years ago and it couldn't but Obama didn't do it
Donald Trump 11:35 ↗
And Biden didn't do it and frankly Bush didn't do it either. But you did what Eisenhower started trying to do. Equalizing the UK and all the other presidents, none of them were successful. You're the first one. It's your win. Your win in the A.
Mark Rutte 11:48 ↗
That's why I like him.
Donald Trump 11:50 ↗
And the win.
Mark Rutte 11:52 ↗
This is true. Without you, this would not have happened.
Donald Trump 11:54 ↗
Really? Great.
Mark Rutte 11:55 ↗
You have any questions, Mr. President?
Reporter 11:56 ↗
Is the ceasefire over? Is the ceasefire done? Is theou dead?
Donald Trump 12:01 ↗
It's a very interesting question. To me, I think it's over. I don't want to deal with them anymore. They're scum. You know what scum is? They're scum. They're sick people. They're led by sick people. And they're vicious, violent people. And if they had a nuclear weapon, they'd use it. As far as I'm concerned, it's over. I'll speak to our negotiators. They want to negotiate. They're good people. Steve Woodco, Jared Kushner, but they have to come back to me. As far as I'm concerned, it's just a waste of time dealing with them. They're liars. We make a deal and they if I make a deal with him, we have a deal. And he goes out, he talks. We make a deal. Everyone's agreed. No nuclear weapon. We make a deal. They go outside, talk to the press, they say, 'We never even talked about it. There's something wrong with them. They're cuckoo.' As far as I'm concerned, it's over.
Reporter 12:56 ↗
Talks won't resume after we get through the funeral proceedings. Does this mean that talks with Iran will not resume after?
Donald Trump 13:03 ↗
I don't care. They can talk, but I think they're wasting their time. They're a bunch of lying guys. I do my whole life. That's all I do is deals. My whole life is that's how I became president. I guess that's a deal, too, right? But I made a lot of money. I had a lot of great success. Tremendous success. Everything I did, I was successful. And I deal with these guys and I say, 'This is from a different school. They're liars. They're cheats. They're sick people. They've hurt their people. They killed 54,000 people as of now that were protesting. You know, when people say, 'How come they haven't taken over? They can't take over because they're dead. They killed them. Nobody's going to take over. They have no guns and the other side has machine guns and they're killing them. The press doesn't report it. But they're bad people. They're bad people. And frankly, I don't want to waste my time with them. Now, I'll let our wonderful negotiators keep talking if they want, but I don't see it. I don't like these people. You know that I like him. I like the leaders. I like I think all of these leaders
Reporter 14:08 ↗
And they love

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Cite this transcript

APA, MLA, BibTeX
APA

Rutte, M. (2026, July 8). LIVE: Trump & NATO Chief Mark Rutte Speak to Reporters After Summit | Trump Live | NATO Summit 2026 [Interview transcript]. CNN-News18. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1080757/

MLA

Mark Rutte. "LIVE: Trump & NATO Chief Mark Rutte Speak to Reporters After Summit | Trump Live | NATO Summit 2026." CNN-News18, 8 Jul. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1080757/.

BibTeX
@misc{rutte2026_1080757,
  author       = {Mark Rutte},
  title        = {LIVE: Trump \& NATO Chief Mark Rutte Speak to Reporters After Summit | Trump Live | NATO Summit 2026},
  howpublished = {Interview transcript, CNN-News18. CEOInterviews.AI},
  year         = {2026},
  month        = {jul},
  url          = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1080757/},
  note         = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}