The Hague, Netherlands - NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte took his disturbingly fawning attitude towards US President Donald Trump to a whole new level at a summit on Wednesday.

As Trump joined the NATO meeting in Rutte's native Netherlands, the two were addressing Israel's war on Iran.

Trump compared the countries to "two kids in a schoolyard."

He added: "You know, they fight like hell. You can't stop them. Let them fight for about two, three minutes, then it's easier to stop."

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Rutte then interjected to quip: "And then daddy has to sometimes use strong language," before cackling at his own bizarre joke.

That was a reference to Trump's foul-mouthed outburst as he set off for the NATO summit, visibly angry at the prospect of the Iran-Israel ceasefire breaking down.

"They've been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the f*** they're doing, do you understand that?" the 79-year-old angrily told reporters at the White House.

On Wednesday, Trump chuckled at Rutte's reference, admitting: "Everyone said 'Well, you have to use a certain word.'"

Rutte has taking a sycophantic approach to keeping the Trump happy, after the Republican's repeated threats to pull the US out of NATO. He caused outrage among legal experts on Monday by insisting that the Trump administration's strikes on Iranian nuclear sites were not against international law.

In a further humiliation, Trump on Tuesday shared a screenshot of a cloying text message from Rutte, who gushed: "Congratulations and thank you for your decisive action in Iran, that was truly extraordinary, and something no one else dared to do. It makes us all safer."

Previewing an agreement that will see NATO members raising their military spending to 5% of GDP, Rutte said Trump was about to "achieve something NO American president in decades could get done

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Pressed by reporters on whether his behavior was demeaning coming from an alliance secretary general, Rutte on Wednesday replied: "No, I don't think so."

"I think it's a bit of a question of taste," Rutte said, calling Trump a "good friend" who "deserves all the praise."