Many Are Wondering Who Called Trump "Daddy" After Trump's Hour-Plus Long Speech in Davos

Trump's Davos speech on Jan. 21, 2026, rambled on for over an hour. He spoke about his efforts to get the U.S. to take over Greenland and claimed that Greenland is actually part of North America. Trump said that the U.S. was stupid to "give it back" at the end of the Second World War, per The Times. The U.S. did establish a military presence in Greenland after Germany invaded Denmark, but Greenland was never the U.S.'s to "give back," according to WRAL News.

In his speech, Trump said that he won't use force to secure Greenland, according to The Independent. He said, in a veiled threat, that Europe should "give" Greenland to the U.S. as a show of their appreciation for all that Trump does for them. "You can say yes, and we will be very appreciative. Or you can say no, and we will remember," Trump warned.

Trump also repeatedly confused Greenland with Iceland, and he brought up the fact that he was called "Daddy" in the past. Trump recalled, "Until the last few days, when I told them about Iceland [sic], they loved me. They called me daddy, right? Very smart man said, ‘He’s our daddy.’ I was, like, running it. I went from running it to being a terrible human being.”

Trump was likely referring to the NATO Secretary-General, Mark Rutte, when he claimed, "They called me 'Daddy.'" During a NATO Summit at The Hague in June 2025, Rutte was talking about Trump's comments about Iran and Israel's potential ceasefire agreement at the time. Trump had likened the countries to two children fighting in a schoolyard, per ABC News.

Trump said, "You know, they fight like hell. You can't stop them. Let them fight for about two-three minutes, then it's easy to stop them." Butte jumped in and said, "Daddy has to sometimes use strong language to get them to stop."

Trump agreed with Butte and said, "Every so often you have to use a certain word." The day before, Trump had said an expletive as he became frustrated about the Israel-Iran conflict.

Rutte first defended his use of the word "Daddy" when referring to Trump, but later walked it back and told Reuters that he didn't call Trump "Daddy," but rather used the word more as a metaphor to speak about the relationship between the U.S. and other countries.

Rutte explained, "The 'daddy' thing —I didn't call him 'daddy.' … In Europe, I hear sometimes countries saying, 'Hey, Mark, will the U.S. stay with us?' And I said that sounds a little bit like a small child asking his daddy, 'Hey, are you still staying with the family?'" He added, "So in that sense, I used 'daddy', not that I was calling President Trump 'daddy.'"