Donald Trump is known for his fondness for charts, gold and flattery.

NATO's Secretary General Mark Rutte is known for winning over the US president.

So, when the so-called 'Trump Whisperer’ is tasked with keeping the president on side ahead of a crucial NATO summer in a fortnight, he rolls into the White House with the receipts and plenty of plámásing.

Two large charts, mounted on easels, with gold letters that spelled out ‘Trump Trillions’ accompanied Mr Rutte to the Oval Office on Wednesday.

When, as expected, Mr Trump started to criticise the military alliance in front of cameras, Mr Rutte stood up, asked for the floor and walked, breezily, over to his visuals.

He began an animated presentation to Mr Trump and his administration officials, which included two prominent NATO sceptics, the Defence Secretary and Vice President, about how European allies and Canada had boosted their defence spending, not just because of Russia’s war in Ukraine, but also because of Mr Trump’s complaints that they are not spending enough money.

Mr Rutte’s argument was that Europe and Canada added around $1.2 trillion in defence spending since Mr Trump first came to office, along with making billions of dollars in orders with US defence companies.

This is what NATO in 2026 looks like, a constant stream of trial-and-error flattery to keep the nation that has a $980 billion defence budget on side as it rethinks its place in the decades-old military alliance.

Mr Rutte’s ability to effectively communicate with Mr Trump during his time as prime minister of the Netherlands, was a key attribute for securing the role in the first place.

The flattery has defined his tenure (and he will probably never live down calling him ‘daddy’) and those efforts to tame US threats have led to criticism that Mr Rutte has gone too far.