US President Donald Trump criticized all previous American leaders, including George Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden, for failing to make NATO members increase their military spending, and immediately praised alliance Secretary General Mark Rutte for his flattery. This exchange took place at a meeting between Rutte and Trump before the only working session of the NATO summit in Ankara.

“NATO countries were freeloading off the United States. If Biden had more brains, he would have told them to pay more. But he didn’t do it. Just like Obama — this should have happened many years ago, but Obama didn’t do it, Biden didn’t do it, and Bush, frankly, didn’t do it either,” Trump said.

At that moment, Rutte interjected, saying: “But now it happened thanks to you. You did what [Dwight] Eisenhower (US president from 1953 to 1961) was trying to do — equalize Europe’s and America’s military spending. None of the US presidents achieved this success; you were the first,” Rutte said. “That’s why I love him,” Trump responded immediately.