Just weeks after Trump brought NATO to the brink of collapse, Rutte has a completely different perspective on the alliance

Europe's decision to spend more on defense brings America back to the fore, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Friday in an interview with Politico on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

Just weeks after Donald Trump brought the alliance to the brink of collapse by threatening to annex the self-governing Danish island of Greenland, Rutte praised the US president for putting pressure on European countries to increase their military spending – while avoiding questions about the appropriateness of a US threat to the sovereignty of another NATO member state.

“I would say that NATO is stronger than ever since the fall of the Berlin Wall” until today, Rutte said.

He specified that, at Thursday's meeting of defense ministers from NATO countries, “I felt a change in mentality, in the sense that the Europeans no longer just said: “Hey, we're going to spend a lot more”. “The change in mindset is that Europeans are saying, 'We need to take more leadership in NATO'… and that's exactly what the United States wanted,” he continued.

“This makes it easier for the United States to stay anchored in NATO,” Rutte added.

His remarks came after Deputy Pentagon chief Elbridge Colby gave an unusually cordial speech at Thursday's meeting of alliance ministers in Brussels – which some Europeans interpreted as a sign that the US wants to end the Greenland episode.

Colby called for a new “NATO 3.0,” in which Europeans pay more for their own defense and reduce NATO's activities to its primary task of defending the alliance's territory — an idea supported by Rutte on Friday.

The NATO chief's comments also reflect a sense of relief in Munich from many Europeans who hope the worst transatlantic tensions since last month have eased – at least for now.

However, Rutte has recently been criticized by some allies for going too far in defense of Trump and the US.

This tried and tested strategy to prevent Trump from destroying the alliance was ridiculed last year after Rutte called the US president “daddy”.

The NATO secretary-general insisted the nickname was “never intended”, attributing it – although he spoke fluent English – to his “inadequate knowledge” of the English language.

Describing Trump as a “funny guy” with “a lot of humor,” Rutte responded to the fact that the nickname is now part of his reputation: “I'm okay with that.”