Even if most individual NATO members are still reluctant to jump on board Trump's Iran war, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte is busy praising American military action there amid the annual summit in Ankara.
Rutte has freshly described the overnight fresh US military strikes on Iran in response to Tehran attacking multiple international shipping vessels "absolutely necessary". Rutte voiced agreement with Trump that Iran's actions violated the MoU ceasefire agreement with the US, which required a response.
"When you have a ceasefire and Iran is basically violating the ceasefire, I think it is totally crucial that the US forcefully react," Rutte told reporters.
The new US actions resulted in a swift Iranian response, in the form of Iranian drones and missiles on Kuwait and Bahrain, which the latter country decried as a "dangerous escalation".
"The era of bullying and extortion is over," Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf wrote on X. "It leads nowhere. We don’t fold."
As we reported earlier, President Trump has called the Iranians "scum" and declared the ceasefire "over": "To me, I think it's over. I don't want to deal with them anymore; they're scum," Trump told reporters.
All this naturally brings up the question of 'what's next?'
Certainly the Iranians seem in the mood for a fight, and Washington feels it can't let attacks on international shipping slide - so all for this could portend a return to all-out war.
It's been 129 days since the start of Operation Epic Fury - a conflict which US officials had promised would be 'fast' - and the public has been 'assured' it is not a quagmire. Yet here we are.
As for Rutte, it's unclear what his strategy for Iran, if any, might be. He's clearly trying to keep Trump happy, playing Trump whisperer in Turkey, vis-a-vis the NATO alliance and its continued funding. Here was some Trump commentary on NATO 'unity' in Ankara:
“Spain is a terrible partner in NATO. They don’t participate. They don’t pay. I don’t want anything to do with Spain. Cut off all trade with Spain, please, including visits,” he said at a press conference in Ankara with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Trump also reignited inter-alliance tensions when he resurfaced his desire to take control of Greenland, a territory of NATO member Denmark.
The NATO chief has also newly stated could be no doubt over the "complete commitment of the United States to NATO" - which he claimed also defends the United States and is thus invaluable.
"But there's also the expectation that the Europeans and the Canadians will equalize their spending with the United States, which I think is completely fair," he added.
"The good news is that this is the big win today. It's the loss for Putin, it is a win for President Trump that the Europeans and the Canadians are doing exactly that," Rutte said.