Dutch PM's Amsterdam slam, Trump praise reaches Washington Post

Prime Minister Mark Rutte made headlines in the Washington Post with his comments about the Amsterdam "white wine sipping elite". On television program Buitenhof on Sunday, Rutte said he was irritated by the these elites who don't give American president Donald Trump a chance. According to Rutte, instead of always criticizing Trump, the Amsterdam elite should rather "make use of his presence on the playing field".

"Dutch leader defends Trump from 'white-wine-sipping' big-city elites", the Washington Post's headline reads. The newspaper quotes Rutte: "It pisses me off when I hear the white-wine-sipping Amsterdam elites say that Trump is so wrong." Rutte pointed out that "lots of things are not good" in NATO, the World Trade Organization and in the European Union. "So let's make use of the presence of someone like Trump, who sometimes rightly says, 'Guys, this is not good'."

The newspaper also noted the criticism Rutte received from Amsterdam politicians after his comments. It posted a tweet by GroenLinks city councilor in Amsterdam Zeeger Ernsting, which shows a picture of Rutte drinking white wine with Russian president Vladimir Putin. 

#elite pic.twitter.com/p6bdzoiIzA

— Zeeger Ernsting (@zeeger) January 13, 2019

Arabic broadcaster Al Jazeera also wrote about Rutte's comments and the criticism he faced as a result.