Vlad Vexler Is Largely Right: Rutte Is Fucking Up Royally With Regard to Trump
- john raymond
- Jun 25
- 3 min read
Let’s start with the obvious: Mark Rutte is fucking up. His approach to Trump—whether it’s flattery, appeasement, or what he calls “daddy management”—is not only naive, it is dangerous. It plays into Trump’s game and further destabilizes NATO at a time when the alliance cannot afford illusions. And on this point, I agree with political philosopher Vlad Vexler: Rutte’s behavior is rooted in a deep misunderstanding of who and what Trump really is.
But while Vlad’s critique is sharp, I believe it stops one layer short. He frames Trump’s behavior in terms of narcissistic supply—that Trump is reactive, erratic, and driven by a need to constantly affirm his fragile ego. While there’s truth in that, I think we must go further.
Because Trump is not simply erratic. He is not merely emotionally needy. He is not an accidental threat. He is a hierarchical thinker who sees the world as masters and slaves—and he is desperate never to return to being the latter.
Rutte’s Fatal Mistake
Rutte’s flattery—his soft praise in texts, his absurd “daddy” comment at the NATO summit—reveals a mistaken belief: that Trump is strong, and therefore must be placated. But as Vlad points out, Trump is not strong. He is weak. He is loathed at home, politically vulnerable, legally compromised, and terrified of being dethroned.
The problem is that Rutte thinks Trump’s posturing is real. He sees the bombast and assumes the man must be managed gently. But the reality is that Trump thrives on dominance. If you flatter him and he perceives you as beneath him, it doesn’t sway him—it affirms your submission.
In Trump’s worldview, only those who are already powerful are worth respecting. He flatters up (to Putin), and dominates down (everyone else). Rutte’s flattery marks him as weak, and Trump—far from being controlled by it—uses it to justify further contempt.
The Master–Slave Mindset
This is why I push beyond Vlad’s “narcissistic supply” framework. Trump’s psychological landscape is one shaped by abuse, power, and hierarchy. He does not crave love. He does not need validation. He needs to feel he is not the abused child anymore. And the only way he knows to do that is by becoming the abuser himself. Power flows one way: down.
Putin, of course, understands this. That’s why Trump always shows deference to him—not because Putin feeds his ego, but because Trump sees him as the only man alive who is more powerful than he is. You have to remember that Putin made him. That is why Trump obeys. That is why he does Putin’s bidding. Not out of affection or delusion—but out of deeply internalized, survival-driven fear and hierarchy.
The Broader Strategic Failure
Rutte is not just failing to read Trump—he is failing to read the times. He’s clinging to an idea of diplomacy that no longer exists. A politics of gentle negotiation, polite alignment, and shared liberal order. But that order is gone. Trump is not a deviation. He is a prototype for the authoritarian future. And when NATO leaders flatter him, they are not calming a storm—they are feeding it.
The Western alliance cannot afford to treat Trump as a misguided narcissist. He is a functioning agent of asymmetric authoritarianism. His behavior isn’t unpredictable; it’s strategically subservient—to Putin, to survival, to power.
Rutte should stop texting Trump like he’s the lead in a reality show and start treating him like what he is: a dangerous man who sells out the West to protect himself—and to serve his master in the Kremlin.
Because Trump doesn’t want to be loved. He wants to rule. And if flattery marks you as a follower, he will make sure you stay beneath his heel.
Comments