Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at NATO chief Mark Rutte’s face-to-face with U.S. President Donald Trump, Chinese military actions near Taiwan, and the expected victory of Peruvian presidential hopeful Keiko Fujimori.

The ‘Trump Whisperer’

NATO chief Mark Rutte sat down with U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday for a closed-door meeting ahead of next month’s leaders’ summit. Walking through the doors of the Oval Office, Rutte faced an administration that is increasingly frustrated with the alliance. But experts suggest that the secretary-general’s rare ability to sweet-talk the president could be enough to smooth over tensions—at least, for now.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at NATO chief Mark Rutte’s face-to-face with U.S. President Donald Trump, Chinese military actions near Taiwan, and the expected victory of Peruvian presidential hopeful Keiko Fujimori.

The ‘Trump Whisperer’

NATO chief Mark Rutte sat down with U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday for a closed-door meeting ahead of next month’s leaders’ summit. Walking through the doors of the Oval Office, Rutte faced an administration that is increasingly frustrated with the alliance. But experts suggest that the secretary-general’s rare ability to sweet-talk the president could be enough to smooth over tensions—at least, for now.

Rutte has held many titles over his decades-long career, but “Trump whisperer” may be his most divisive. The NATO chief stunned leaders in January after he appeared to convince Trump to walk back his threats to take control of Greenland via military force or economic coercion. “We can’t help you if you want to become an owner of Greenland,” Rutte reportedly told Trump at the time. “But we can help you on security.”

Although some foreign officials have applauded Rutte’s ability to handle Trump, others have accused the secretary-general of pandering to the White House at the expense of NATO’s other members.

Trump has repeatedly criticized the alliance for not adequately supporting the United States in its war against Iran, and he has gone so far as to threaten to leave NATO or punish some members over their decision to not allow U.S. forces to use their military bases to launch strikes. Rutte initially tried to defend allies’ responses, acknowledging that while some members were “a........

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