Dutch PM not on list of 30 leaders who called Trump
American President-elect Donald Trump released a list of all the world leaders he's spoken to since winning the U.S. election with the most electoral votes last week, to show how hard he's been working. But he forgot to add Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to the list.
After Trump's victory Rutte released a statement congratulating him. He also personally spoke to the president-elect to convey his congratulations, according to AD. The Prime Minister stressed the historical ties between the Netherlands andAmerica's and assumes that Trump's new government will continue to work with the Nethelrands "on the basis of shared values and principles".
But this conversation seemingly did not make much of an impact on Trump, given that he seems to have forgotten about it. The Netherlands is not mentioned on the list of 29 foreign leaders.
Rutte's motivation to keep working with Trump also lead to criticism in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of parliament. D66 leader Alexander Pechtold in particular would have preferred it if Rutte was more criticial. He wondered whether anything in Rutte's conversation with him, "set Trump thinking". The PvdA and GroenLinks also criticized the Prime Minister's approach.
The Prime Minister countered that it is unwise to immediately start hostilities. "Let's give the guy a chance and not ruin the relationship in advance. Trump was democratically elected." He believes it is of the utmost impmortance that Europe and the United states continue to build a strong relationship, also under Trump. "The Netherlands plays a role here. We are the smallest of the big countries. We have an opportunity and responsibility to help build a bridge between Europe and America."
According to AD, a spokesperson for Trump confirmed that the conversation between the president-elect and Dutch Prime Minister did indeed happen and an updated list, including the Netherlands, will be released on Thursday.
