Autopsy #11 Mark Rutte the Trump "Whisperer"

In this week's Autopsy, we react to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte's visit to Donald Trump at the White House. Dario calls him the Trump brown nose. Balder, as a Dutch person, feels a particular kind of shame.The visit features Rutte presenting Trump with a poster, in Trump gold and red, showing European defence spending going up. The numbers are accurate. The framing is not. European rearmament is happening because the transatlantic alliance has fractured and Europeans no longer trust the United States as a security guarantor, not because Trump successfully pressured them. Rutte knows this. He presents it differently anyway. He also describes the US war against Iran, in which at least 150 schoolgirls died in a single strike, as something to be celebrated and admired. He calls Trump the leader of the free world without apparent discomfort.We discuss what this kind of politics actually costs in the long run. Rutte's defenders argue he is sacrificing his ego for the greater good, managing a difficult relationship to keep NATO functional. We argue the opposite: by cheerleading this war, by refusing to signal even basic moral disapproval, he tells the world that this behaviour is acceptable. Europe and NATO lose the moral standing they would need to argue against future aggression, by anyone. The managerial mindset that defines this kind of politics only sees tomorrow. It does not see what it is giving away.This podcast is an individual project between us, Dario Hasenstab and Balder Hageraats. We are supported by our producer Stefani Obradovic from Western Bubble Insights & Strategy. If you would like to get in touch with us, write us an email at [email protected].