NATO Chief to Newsmax: Trump's Strikes in Iran Signal to Xi, Putin

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told Newsmax on Wednesday that President Donald Trump's decision to take out Iran's nuclear program with precision airstrikes last week sent a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

A squadron of U.S. B-2 Spirit bombers on Saturday night struck Iranian nuclear facilities in Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan to thwart the Islamic regime's ambitions of obtaining a nuclear weapon. The strikes followed daily bombings by Israel on Iranian nuclear and military facilities, and Trump announced a ceasefire Monday to end the 12-day conflict.

"I think what happened now in Iran is projecting American power on the world stage, saying, here's a president who has the strength to do what is necessary," Rutte said in an exclusive interview with Shelby Wilder on "American Agenda" after NATO's annual summit at The Hague. "He's willing to use it, but in a very measured way.

"But this is a signal. If I was in Beijing, Xi Jinping, or in Moscow, Putin, I would be sitting there and seeing that footage. I would not be happy. I would think, 'OK, they are really serious, these Americans.' And this is exactly what we need. Projecting American power on the world stage."

Rutte said he isn't concerned that the situation with Iran could spiral out of control and draw in more NATO members if Iran's nuclear program was not destroyed, as some mainstream media reports have suggested. Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt have said Iran's nuclear facilities have been "obliterated," and Israel said the Islamic regime's nuclear program has been set back "many years."

"I'm not afraid of that," Rutte said. "And I think what the president did was very surgical. It was very targeted. It was saying after what Israel had done, with Israel not being capable, able with their own military to really get deep into the nuclear facilities. And I mean, the U.S. has, of course, the best military in the world. You have the B-2s, you have these huge bombs which can really penetrate deep into these caved-in locations in Iran.

"This was a demonstration of, yes, strength, but also peace because it was targeted. … And the president immediately followed it up with a call for a ceasefire. And he was successful in getting the ceasefire done between Israel and Iran. So, I think he did exactly what he needed to do. And I was very happy because the nuclear capability for Iran is a threat to all of us."

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