Trump ‘misogyny’ means no room for female chief of NATO

NATO has dropped plans to have a woman at the helm of the military alliance because of fears Donald Trump’s ‘misogyny’ would cause more damage to transatlantic relations.

NATO leaders have dropped the idea of installing Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas as the alliance’s first female chief. Picture: AFP

NATO has dropped plans to have a woman at the helm of the military alliance because of fears Donald Trump’s “misogyny” will cause more damage to transatlantic relations if he returns to the White House.

Caretaker Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is the frontrunner to take the post of NATO secretary-general when Jens Stoltenberg steps down after 10 years.

It is a setback for Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, 46, who had hoped to be the first woman and east European ally to hold the top job.

As president, Mr Trump exhibited hostility to female European leaders including Theresa May and Angela Merkel, in line with his history of controversial behaviour towards women, including allegations of sexual abuse.

Alliance leaders, including US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, have dropped the idea of installing the first female head of NATO.

Mr Trump described Ms May, while she was prime minister and after he made a state visit to Britain, as a “disaster”. His relations with Dr Merkel were, on his part, deeply hostile. In 2017, at NATO headquarters in Brussels, he told one European leader he could not “stand” her because “that woman embodies everything that I hate”.

The Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte is expected to be chosen at NATO’s new chief within the next few months. Picture: AFP

More than two dozen women have accused Mr Trump of sexual assault or harassment over the years, and Mr Biden and other ­European leaders are unwilling to take risks. “Trump has a history with women that many see as ­misogynist. It might be best to avoid putting a woman into the role,” a diplomat said.

Mr Rutte, 57, is expected to be chosen “probably in the first quarter of this calendar year”. His ­selection is pencilled in for April 4, meaning he will have to leave office as caretaker Dutch leader during protracted coalition talks to find his successor.

He is the preferred candidate because of his more than 13 years as prime minister, and because of his reputation for independence, bluntness and toughness.

In 2018 Mr Rutte publicly contradicted Mr Trump in the White House, interrupting him to say “no” to his aggressive trade policy, which had hit EU exports with ­tariffs.

The plan is to have the new secretary-general established in the post by July when NATO leaders will meet in Washington to mark the alliance’s 75th anniversary.

Mr Stoltenberg, who has been credited with holding the allies ­together after the invasion of Ukraine and who was known as the “Trump whisperer” in his first term, has already, it is said, advised Mr Rutte on how to deal with him.

Traditionally, the post is always taken by a European and until ­recent months Mr Biden has ­rejected male candidates such as former British defence secretary Ben Wallace because he wanted a woman to take the job.

The decision not to appoint a woman, after US and British ­attempts to persuade EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to take up the role, are a sign of “Trump-proofing” as his election to a second term as president appears increasingly probable.

Ms von der Leyen is expected to stay in her commission post. She met Mr Trump in January 2020 at a gathering of world leaders in Davos, where he told her, according to a senior EU commissioner, that “if Europe is under attack we will never come to help you”.

“NATO is dead, and we will leave, we will quit NATO,” he said, according to Thierry Breton, the French European commissioner, who was present at the encounter.

There are also fears that a Trump return to the White House means support for Ukraine in the war against Russia will be eroded.

The Times