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President Capitalizes Off Nickname With New ‘Daddy’ Merch

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Photo Credit: "Donald Trump" by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/?ref=openverse.

President Donald Trump is capitalizing on his new tongue-in-cheek nickname with some viral merch.

Just a day after NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte affectionately referred to Trump as “Daddy,” the president’s official campaign store launched a red-hot item.

The new merchandise is a t-shirt emblazoned with the word “DADDY” under Trump’s official portrait.

The t-shirt’s release followed an unexpected exchange during the NATO summit that sent social media into overdrive.

The viral moment came as Rutte and Trump addressed reporters at a joint press conference in The Hague.

Trump had previously vented about tensions between Israel and Iran, comparing the countries to brawling schoolchildren.

“They’ve had a big fight, like two kids in a schoolyard,” Trump said. “You know, they fight like hell, you can’t stop them. Let them fight for about 2, 3 minutes, then it’s easy to stop them.”

Trump had already shown frustration earlier when he said, “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f–k they’re doing, do you understand?”

“Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and dropped a boatload of bombs the likes of which I’ve never seen before. The biggest load that we’ve seen, I’m not happy with Israel,” Trump continued.

“OK, when I say now you have 12 hours, you don’t go out in the first hour and just drop everything you have on them. So, I’m not happy with him. I’m not happy with Iran either,” the president concluded.

In response to Trump’s choice of words, Rutte quipped, “Daddy has to sometimes use strong language.”

Trump replied with a grin, “Every once in a while you have to use a certain word.”

Later, when asked by a Sky News reporter about Rutte’s “Daddy” remark, Trump didn’t miss a beat.

“I think he likes me. If he doesn’t, I’ll let you know. I’ll come back and I’ll hit him hard, okay? He did it very affectionately. ‘Daddy — you’re my daddy.’”

Rutte later praised Trump as a “good friend,” even giving the former businessman credit for NATO’s policy shift.

“When it comes to Iran, the fact that he took this decisive action, very targeted, to make sure that Iran would not be able to get his hands on a nuclear capability — I think he deserves all the praise,” he said.

When pressed if he was being too flattering, Rutte doubled down. “No, I don’t think so. I think it’s a bit of a question of taste.”

The Trump White House was quick to take advantage of the viral moment.

A flashy campaign video posted online featured footage of Trump descending from Air Force One, shaking hands with world leaders, and entering the Dutch palace, all set to Usher’s 2010 track “Hey Daddy.”

The video was hilariously captioned, “Daddy’s home… Hey, hey, hey, Daddy.”

Commentator Benny Johnson summed up social media’s reaction, writing, “This is easily the best thing on the internet.”

By Thursday morning, the official Trump campaign store added fuel to the fire with a cheeky merch drop.

The “Daddy” shirt is available in red, orange, or navy blue for a $35 donation to the fundraising committee Trump created with the Republican National Committee

“When Biden was President, we were LAUGHED at on the world stage. The whole world WALKED ALL OVER US!” the Trump National Committee Joint Fundraising Committee wrote.

The email, written in Trump’s signature voice, continued: “But thanks to your favorite President (ME!) we are respected once again. Please never forget that I wouldn’t be here without you. THANKS TO YOU, OUR COUNTRY IS RESPECTED AGAIN!”

Rutte later attempted to clarify his comment during a follow-up statement.

“What I said is that sometimes, in Europe, I hear sometimes countries saying, ‘Hey, Mark, will the U.S. 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.”

Despite the clarification, the nickname stuck. The summit also saw NATO leaders agree to Trump’s long-standing demand that all member states boost their defense spending to 5%, a move that was once considered politically unthinkable in Europe.

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