U.S. President Donald Trump is touting his influence over the NATO military alliance, which he said “calls me daddy” in an interview that focused in part on his vision for Europe.

The interview with Politico was released Tuesday, days after the Trump administration released a new national security strategy that sharply criticized European allies and said America’s goal “should be to help Europe correct its current trajectory.”

Yet Trump insisted in the interview he has no desire to get involved in European politics.

“I want to run the United States. I don’t want to run Europe,” he said.

“I’m involved in Europe very much. NATO calls me daddy,” he added, pointing to the alliance’s adoption this year of Trump’s push to increase members’ share of defence spending from two per cent

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