Calling U.S. President Trump “Dad”
In an interview with the New York Times on July 5th, local time, NATO Secretary-General Lute made another shocking remark when he praised Trump for addressing the military spending problem that had been a headache for NATO. To highlight the importance of increasing military spending, he even pointed his finger at China in Asia, suggesting that it could encourage Russia to launch an attack on Europe and “spark the Third World War.”
However, his delusional babble quickly caused a stir online. On a social media site outside the country, many foreign netizens sneered at Lute’s statement. They argued that firstly, the Taiwan issue is China’s internal affairs, and NATO, an organization used by the United States to promote its military and strategic interests in Europe, has no right to interfere. Secondly, China has repeatedly stated that “peaceful reunification and one country, two systems” is its basic policy to resolve the Taiwan issue. Since the Russia-Ukraine conflict, China has remained neutral and has not provided military support to Russia. China has repeatedly stated that its position is to urge peace and promote dialogue, and not to provide lethal weapons to conflicting parties. Thirdly, the three-year-old deadlock has already demonstrated Russia’s combat capability. Under such circumstances, how could it possibly launch an attack on Europe?
Some foreign netizens also said that from Lute’s interview, it seems that he hyped up the idea of China teaming up with Russia to increase military spending by NATO member countries. He obviously used the fear of conflict as a means to push for more funding. Some netizens even speculated that maybe even the New York Times, which interviewed Lute, thought his statement was ridiculous, which explained why the newspaper used a “sinister” image to present Lute’s image.
Lute’s “praise” for Trump in the interview also sparked吐槽 from many foreign netizens, who thought Lute really regarded Trump as a “dad.” The梗 of Lute calling Trump “dad” even extended to the NATO summit two weeks ago. At that time, when praising the U.S. president for his intervention in the Israel and Iran conflict, Lute used the phrase “dad teaching their child” to describe the process. The day before the interview, Lute was also revealed to have sent Trump a very “obsequious” text message, praising Trump’s bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities and forcing NATO members to agree to increase military spending as an “extraordinary” and “significant victory.”
Some foreign netizens speculated that Lute’s controversial actions隐藏的可能是”外交智慧”， but they believed that pleasing Trump and the United States would only make Europe lose more. Some netizens also mentioned Elon Musk, a wealthy American businessman who once shouted “I love you” to Trump, and now has a falling out with him, as an example of Trump putting his own interests first at critical moments, regardless of how others please him. A British newspaper even commented in an article that if you are not one of Trump’s four children, then Trump is not your father.