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NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte expressed his full support for President Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran, declaring that key allies stand for “all one, one for all” amid Tehran’s missile retaliation.
“There is no light between us,” Rutte told Fox & Friends on Monday.
“The Europeans, Canada, Mark Carney, the United States, the American president … All one, one for all, because everyone supports, here in Europe, the fact that [Ayatollah Ali] “Khamenei is gone, that nuclear power has ended, that the ballistic missile program has now been dismantled – which was a major threat to Europe, to Israel, to the entire region,” he said.
Rutte praised Trump for crippling the Iranian regime’s military power and removing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and said European leaders expressed broad support during talks over the weekend.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte holds a press conference ahead of the NATO Defense Ministers’ Meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on February 11. (Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“This is important,” Rutte said.
“And what I’m seeing in Europe — I talked to all the key European leaders over the weekend — is widespread support for what the president is doing, and I’m also confirming that when it comes to transportation, access, protecting vital US interests in Europe and the region, the Europeans are really stepping up.”
Rutte’s comments came as Iran fired missiles at military and civilian targets in Israel and the Gulf States following US-led strikes.
KEY MILITARY SITES INSPECTED INSIDE IRAN AS PART OF JOINT US-ISRAELI APPROACH
A screenshot from a video released on President Donald Trump’s Truth Social account shows Trump making statements about war in Iran on Feb. 28 in Palm Beach, Fla. (President Trump Via Truth Social/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Rutte said he personally spoke to several top European leaders shortly after the strikes and considered their responses supportive.
“If you look, for example, Friedrich Merz, the Chancellor of Germany, is now going to Washington for meetings tomorrow with President Trump. He made a very good kind of comment a few days ago. I think he completely supports what is happening,” he said.
“You see the same from France when it comes to all the help they give, and also from the UK. The problem with the UK was the legitimacy of these defense activities,” he continued.
Rutte admitted that Britain was initially reluctant to give US military access to its bases, saying the issue centered on the legal authorization of defense operations.
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“They needed the offense to be strong, so last night they came. I think that’s important.”
The French newspaper Monde reported on Monday that, although European leaders responded “with great caution” after the strikes began on Saturday, “their tone changed in response to the attack on the region of Tehran” the next day, even issuing a joint statement vowing that they would not stand by in the event of further “indiscriminate” attacks.
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