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Trump embraces ‘Daddy’ label at NATO summit by fund-raising off it
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte referred to President Trump as “Daddy” after Trump berated Israel and Iran for violating a cease-fire he helped broker. Trump likened the conflict between Iran and Israel to “two kids in a school yard,” and Rutte seemed to use the moment to defend the president’s earlier use of profanity. Trump himself is using the term to solicit donations from supporters, selling $35 orange T-shirts that bear his mugshot and the word ‘Daddy’ in capital letters. The White House has sought to capitalize on the NATO chief”s use of the term by releasing a video on X that featured Trump’S trip to the summit.
Now, the White House and the president are embracing the term.
At a NATO summit Wednesday, Secretary General Mark Rutte referred to President Trump as “Daddy” after Trump berated Israel and Iran for violating a cease-fire he helped broker.
“We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the [expletive] they’re doing,” Trump said at the White House Tuesday before departing for the summit.
During a news conference at the summit the next day, Trump likened the conflict between Iran and Israel to “two kids in a school yard,” and Rutte seemed to use the moment to defend the president’s earlier use of profanity.
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“You know, they fight like hell, you can’t stop them,” Trump said. “Let them fight for about two or three minutes, then it’s easy to stop them.”
At that, Rutte said, “Daddy has to sometimes do strong language.”
Trump responded: “Every once in a while you have to use a certain word.”
Asked later that day about Rutte’s “Daddy” comment and if Trump considers NATO allies to be like “children,” the president chuckled.
“No, he likes me,” Trump said of Rutte. “I think he likes me.”
“If he doesn’t, I’ll let you know and I’ll hit him hard, OK? He did, he did it very affectionately. Daddy, you’re my daddy,” Trump added.
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Rutte later sought to clarify his remarks, explaining his reason for calling the US president “Daddy.”
“The daddy thing, I didn’t call him ‘Daddy,’” Rutte said. “What I said is that sometimes, in Europe, I hear sometimes countries saying, ‘Hey, Mark, will the US 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?’ So in that sense, I used ‘Daddy’ — not that I was calling President Trump ‘Daddy.’”
The White House has sought to capitalize on the NATO chief’s use of the term by releasing a video on X that featured Trump’s trip to the summit, along with the song “Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home)” by Usher.
“Daddy’s home… Hey, hey, hey, Daddy,” the White House social media team wrote in a caption to the video.
Trump himself is using the term to solicit donations from supporters, selling $35 orange T-shirts that bear his mugshot and the word “Daddy” in capital letters.
T-shirt sales benefit Trump and Vice President JD Vance’s leadership political action committees and the Republican National Committee.
Alyssa Vega can be reached at alyssa.vega@globe.com.
Israeli gunfire and strikes kill at least 53 in Gaza as many were seeking food aid
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday his government was considering “alternative options” to ceasefire talks. Israel’s military said it fired warning shots to distance a crowd “in response to an immediate threat” and it was not aware of any casualties. Israel on Saturday said over 250 trucks carrying aid from the U.S. were at a standstill after the US. and Israel agreed to a ceasefire. Israeli forces killed at least 11 people and wounded 120 others when they fired toward crowds who tried to get food from an entering U.N. hospital, the Associated Press reported. The Associated Press said people started running when they saw a light that they thought was from aid trucks, but as they got close, they realized it was Israel”s tanks, the report said. The AP also reported that people waiting for aid trucks were killed, and it said staff at Shifa hospital, where bodies were taken, was also among those killed. The U.K. government said negotiations were expected to resume next week and called the recall of delegations a pressure tactic.
Deadly Israeli gunfire was reported twice within hours close to the Zikim crossing with Israel in the north. In the first incident, at least a dozen people waiting for aid trucks were killed, said staff at Shifa hospital, where bodies were taken. Israel’s military said it fired warning shots to distance a crowd “in response to an immediate threat” and it was not aware of any casualties.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes and gunshots killed at least 53 people in Gaza overnight and into Saturday, most of them shot dead while seeking aid, according to Palestinian health officials and the local ambulance service, as starvation deaths continued.
“We went because there is no food … and nothing was distributed,” he said.
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On Saturday evening, Israeli forces killed at least 11 people and wounded 120 others when they fired toward crowds who tried to get food from an entering U.N. convoy, Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiyah, director of Shifa hospital, told the AP.
“We are expecting the numbers to surge in the next few hours,” he said. There was no immediate Israeli military comment.
Elsewhere, those killed in strikes included four people in an apartment building in Gaza City, hospital staff and the ambulance service said. Another Israeli strike killed at least eight, including four children, in the crowded tent camp of Muwasi in the southern city of Khan Younis, according to the Nasser hospital.
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Also in Khan Younis, Israeli forces opened fire and killed at least nine people trying to get aid entering Gaza through the Morag corridor, according to the hospital’s morgue records. There was no immediate comment from Israel’s military.
Stalled ceasefire talks
Ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas were at a standstill after the U.S. and Israel recalled negotiating teams on Thursday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday his government was considering “alternative options” to ceasefire talks. A Hamas official, however, said negotiations were expected to resume next week and called the recall of the delegations a pressure tactic.
Egypt and Qatar, which mediate alongside the United States, called the pause temporary and said talks would resume. They did not say when.
“Our loved ones do not have time for another round of negotiations, and they will not survive another partial deal,” said Zahiro Shahar Mor, nephew of hostage Avraham Munder, one of 50 still in Gaza from Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war. Mor spoke at a weekly rally in Tel Aviv.
Children starving to death
The U.N. and experts say Palestinians in Gaza are at risk of famine. And now children with no preexisting conditions have begun to starve to death.
“We only want enough food to end our hunger,” said Wael Shaaban at a charity kitchen in Gaza City as he tried to feed his family of six.
While Israel’s army says it’s allowing aid into the enclave with no limit on the trucks that can enter, the U.N. says it is hampered by military restrictions on its movements and criminal looting. The Hamas-run police had provided security for aid delivery, but it has been unable to operate after being targeted by airstrikes.
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Israel on Saturday said over 250 trucks carrying aid from the U.N. and other organizations entered Gaza this week. About 600 trucks entered per day during the latest ceasefire that Israel ended in March.
Saturday’s Zikim shootings came days after at least 80 Palestinians were killed trying to reach aid entering through the crossing, one of the deadliest days for aid-seekers in 21 months of war.
Israel faces growing international pressure. More than two dozen Western-aligned countries and over 100 charity and human rights groups have called for an end to the war, harshly criticizing Israel’s blockade and a new aid delivery model it has rolled out.
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food, mostly near the new aid sites run by an American contractor, the U.N. human rights office says.
The charities and rights groups said their own staff struggled to get enough food.
“Stand for Gaza, for silence is a crime, and indifference is a betrayal of humanity,” said Father Issa Thaljieh, a Greek Orthodox priest at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, as religious figures and the mayor called for prayers to end the war.
Turning to airdrops, with a warning
For the first time in months, Israel said it is allowing airdrops, requested by neighboring Jordan. A Jordanian official said the airdrops mainly will be food and milk formula. The United Arab Emirates said airdrops would start “immediately.”
Britain plans to work with partners to airdrop aid and evacuate children requiring medical assistance, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said.
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But the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, warned that airdrops are “expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians” and won’t reverse the increasing starvation or prevent aid diversion.
More than 59,700 Palestinians have been killed during the war, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Its count doesn’t distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says that more than half of the dead are women and children. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
Magdy reported from Cairo.
Netanyahu says Israel considering alternatives to cease-fire talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his government is considering “alternative options” to ceasefire talks with Hamas. Israel and the U.S. recalled their negotiating teams, throwing the future of the negotiations into further uncertainty. Egypt and Qatar, which are mediating the talks alongside the United States, said the pause was only temporary and that talks would resume. Jordan has requested to carry out airdrops of aid into Gaza “due to the dire situation,” a Jordanian official said. “The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved,’ French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday, announcing that France would recognize Palestine as a state. The number of meals they produce every day has plummeted to 160,000 from more than a million in April, according to the United Nations. The charities and rights groups said even their own staff were struggling to get enough food. ‘We’ve been living three months without bread,’ one woman in line, Riham Dwas.
Netanyahu’s statement came as a Hamas official said negotiations were expected to resume next week and portrayed the recall of the Israeli and American delegations as a pressure tactic. Egypt and Qatar, which are mediating the talks alongside the United States, said the pause was only temporary and that talks would resume, though they did not say when.
CAIRO (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday his government was considering “alternative options” to ceasefire talks with Hamas after Israel and the U.S. recalled their negotiating teams, throwing the future of the negotiations into further uncertainty.
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In a statement released by his office, Netanyahu echoed Witkoff, saying, “Hamas is the obstacle to a hostage release deal.”
“Together with our U.S. allies, we are now considering alternative options to bring our hostages home, end Hamas’s terror rule, and secure lasting peace for Israel and our region,” he said. He did not elaborate. Israel’s government didn’t immediately respond to whether negotiations would resume next week.
Stall in talks comes as hunger worsens
A breakthrough on a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas has eluded the Trump administration as experts warn Gaza is being pushed closer to famine, after months of Israel entirely blocking food or letting in only limited amounts. This month, deaths related to malnutrition have accelerated.
More then two dozen Western-aligned countries and more than 100 charity and human rights groups have called for an end to the war, harshly criticizing Israel’s blockade and a new aid delivery model it has rolled out. The charities and rights groups said even their own staff were struggling to get enough food.
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On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would recognize Palestine as a state. “The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved,” he said.
An Israeli soldier stood beside humanitarian aid packages awaiting pickup on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, during a media tour organized by the Israeli army. Ohad Zwigenberg/Associated Press
Jordan has requested to carry out airdrops of aid into Gaza “due to the dire situation,” a Jordanian official said. The official said the airdrops will mainly be food and milk formula.
An Israeli security official said the military was coordinating the drops, which were expected in the coming days. The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the yet-to-be-finalized plans.
Desperate Palestinians gathered at a charity kitchen in Gaza City on Friday, clutching empty pots waiting for a share of watery lentil soup. Such kitchens distributing cooked meals have been a main source of food for many Palestinians, but the number of meals they produce every day has plummeted to 160,000 from more than a million in April, according to the U.N.
“We’ve been living three months without bread,” said one woman in line, Riham Dwas. ”We’re relying on charity kitchens, surviving on a pot of lentils and there are many times when we don’t even have that.”
When she can’t find food, she takes her children to a hospital to be put on saline IV drips for sustenance.
Mourners carry the bodies of strike victims
An Israeli airstrike hit a school-turned-shelter for displaced people in Gaza City, killing at least five people, including an 11-year-old boy, according to hospital officials. Afterwards, dozens of mourners marched carrying the bodies from Shifa Hospital as women nearby screamed and wept.
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“Enough!” screamed Taraji Adwan, whose son and grandson were among the dead. She said the strike hit as she was filling up water jugs.
“Stop the war! Our children are dying from starvation, malnutrition, dehydration, lack of food, strikes, and dying from fear and destruction. Enough, Hamas! Enough, Israel! Enough, world!” she said.
The Gaza Health Ministry said around 80 people were killed since Thursday night, mostly in strikes but including nine killed while seeking aid.
Talks have struggled over issue of ending the war
Hamas official Bassem Naim said Friday that the group was told that the Israeli delegation returned home for consultations and would return early next week to resume ceasefire negotiations.
Hamas said that Witkoff’s remarks were meant to pressure the group for Netanyahu’s benefit during the next round of talks and that in recent days negotiations had made progress. Naim said several gaps had been nearly solved, such as the agenda of the ceasefire, guarantees to continue negotiating to reach a permanent agreement and how humanitarian aid would be delivered.
In a joint statement, Egypt and Qatar also said progress had been made. “It is a natural to pause talks to hold consultations before the resumption of the dialogue once more,” they said.
The sides have held weeks of talks in Qatar, reporting small signs of progress but no major breakthroughs. Officials have said a main sticking point is the redeployment of Israeli troops from positions in Gaza after any ceasefire takes place.
The deal under discussion is expected to include an initial 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 others in phases in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Aid supplies would be ramped up, and the two sides would hold negotiations on a lasting ceasefire.
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The talks have been bogged down over competing demands for ending the war. Hamas says it will only release all hostages in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal and end to the war. Israel says it will not agree to end the conflict until Hamas gives up power and disarms. The militant group says it is prepared to leave power but not surrender its weapons.
Hamas is believed to be holding the hostages in different locations, including tunnels, and says it has ordered its guards to kill them if Israeli forces approach.
Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza but fewer than half are believed to be alive. Their families say the start-stop talks are excruciating.
“I thought that maybe something will come from the time that the negotiation, Israeli team were in Doha,” said Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod is being held hostage. ”And when I heard that they’re coming back, I ask myself: When will this nightmare end?”
Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip.
A one-day strike at 13 German airports, including the main hubs, brings most flights to a halt
The 24-hour walkout involves public-sector employees at the airports as well as ground and security staff. At Frankfurt Airport, 1,054 of the day’s 1,116 scheduled takeoffs and landings had been canceled. The ver.di service workers union’s strike targeted the Hamburg, Bremen, Hannover, Berlin, Duesseldorf, Dortmund, Cologne/Bonn and Stuttgart.
The 24-hour walkout, which started at midnight, involves public-sector employees at the airports as well as ground and security staff.
BERLIN (AP) — A one-day strike by workers at 13 German airports, including the Frankfurt and Munich hubs and all the country’s other main destinations, caused the cancelation of most flights on Monday.
All of Berlin Airport’s regular departures and arrivals were canceled, while Hamburg Airport said no departures would be possible. Cologne/Bonn Airport said there was no regular passenger service and Munich Airport advised travelers to expect a “greatly reduced flight schedule.”
The ver.di service workers union’s strike targeted the Hamburg, Bremen, Hannover, Berlin, Duesseldorf, Dortmund, Cologne/Bonn, Leipzig/Halle, Stuttgart and Munich airports. At the smaller Weeze and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden airports, only security workers were called out.
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The union announced the strike on Friday. But at Hamburg Airport, it added a short-notice walkout on Sunday to the strike on Monday, arguing that it must ensure the measure was effective.
The so-called “warning strike,” a common tactic in German wage negotiations, relates to two separate pay disputes: negotiations on a new pay and conditions contract for airport security workers, and a wider dispute over pay for employees of federal and municipal governments.
The latter already has led to walkouts at Cologne/Bonn, Duesseldorf, Hamburg and Munich airports. Pay talks in that dispute are due to resume on Friday, while the next round of talks for airport security workers is expected to start on March 26.