“There’s two models of behavior: one is [NATO Secretary-General] Mark Rutte and one is [Canadian Prime Minister] Mark Carney. I think Mark Carney is handling him better. The Canadian people are with him, even if it causes some level of economic hardship,” Scaramucci said.
“Rutte, on the other hand, is making a big mistake. Because when you equivocate or flatter him, when you act in the manner that Mark Rutte has acted, all you’re doing is losing his respect. You’re not gaining anything,” he added.
Rutte has often lauded the U.S. president: “I just like the man. I think what he is doing for NATO is great news,” the military alliance chief said in an interview with POLITICO this summer.
Europe has seemingly yielded to Trump’s wishes on numerous occasions. The EU-U.S. trade deal was criticized as playing in Washington’s favor, while European allies agreed to a 5% of GDP spending target by 2035 at last year’s NATO summit in The Hague, matching Trump’s headline demand.
Carney, by contrast, has been more unwilling to bow to Trump’s pressure. He walked away from U.S. trade talks, saying Ottawa could not accept the offer or the demands — and promised to match Washington’s new tariffs dollar for dollar.
In the interview, Scaramucci also lambasted members of Trump’s own Republican Party. “That is the other side of this story: the cowardice of the political servants that are supposed to check Donald Trump, the members of the Republican Senate caucus and the House caucus,” he said.