Rutte compared Trump to a parental figure stepping in to stop a brawl, following Trump’s repeated criticisms of both Israel and Iran this week.

At a NATO summit, Trump addressed the ongoing tensions between the Middle East rivals.

“They’ve had a big fight, like two kids in a schoolyard. You know, they fight like hell, you can’t stop them. Let them fight for about 2-3 minutes, then it’s easy to stop them,” Trump told reporters.

Rutte laughed and responded: “And then daddy has to sometimes use strong language to get (them to) stop.”

Earlier in the week, after a ceasefire was reached, Trump sparked attention by saying Israel and Iran had been fighting “so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f*** they’re doing.”

With NATO still navigating tensions over Trump's longstanding complaints that the alliance relies too heavily on US military and financial support, Rutte was asked whether his praise was over the top.

“No, I don’t think so. I think it’s a bit of a question of taste,” he replied, calling Trump a “good friend” of more than a decade and crediting him for pushing Europe to increase its defence spending.

“So doesn’t he deserve some praise?” Rutte asked, also citing Trump’s decision to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“And when it comes to Iran, the fact that he took this decisive action, very targeted, to make sure that Iran would not be able to get his hands on a nuclear capability—I think he deserves all the praise.”

Asked later about Rutte’s comments, Trump responded with approval.

“He did it very affectionately,” Trump said.