‘Daddy has to sometimes…’: Donald Trump gets new nickname from NATO chief, courtesy Israel-Iran conflict

US President Donald Trump may be one of the most powerful leaders in the world, but he has now got a pretty unusual nickname from none other than the chief of NATO – ‘Daddy’.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday likened Trump to a ‘daddy’ stopping a schoolyard fight between two children – an analogy he drew to describe the US President's role in brokering a ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran.

Speaking to reporters during a NATO summit in The Hague, Donald Trump had reprised his analogy of warring countries Iran and Israel being like squabbling children.

"They've had a big fight, like two kids in a schoolyard," Trump told the press during a briefing.

"You know, they fight like hell. You can't stop them. Let them fight for about two, three minutes, then it's easier to stop," he added.

Rutte then laughed and quipped that it was like how ‘daddy’ has to use strong words sometimes to stop the fight.

“And then daddy has to sometimes use strong language to get (them to) stop,” he said.

The NATO chief was referring to Trump's usage of profane language after he got flustered with Israel and Iran for charging at each other despite the US-brokered ceasefire deal took effect.

The US President on Tuesday, before leaving for the NATO summit, was visibly upset.

The two countries have been “fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the fuck they're doing, do you understand that?” the President told reporters at the White House.

Replying to Rutte's reference, Trump chuckled, admitting, “Everyone said 'Well, you have to use a certain word'.”

While Trump is known for his frequent outbursts in the public, his usage of the F-word caught many by surprise.

Donald Trump a ‘good friend’, says NATO chief

Asked by a journalist whether he might be pouring too much praise and flattery on Trump, Mark Rutte said: "No, I don't think so. I think it's a bit of a question of taste."

He described Trump as a "good friend" for more than a decade and then praised the U.S. president's role in making the NATO summit a success by "finally" getting Europe to boost military spending.

“So doesn't he deserve some praise?” Rutte asked.

“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.”