The head of Nato congratulated Donald Trump for his “extraordinary” intervention in bombing Iran in a fawning private text message to the US president.

Mark Rutte, known as the “Trump whisperer” for their close relationship, praised Mr Trump for his strikes on Iran’s nuclear programme and for pushing Nato allies to spend more on defence.

“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,” he said.

Nato leaders have been careful to placate Mr Trump, showering him with praise and rearranging the summit around his preferences.

They have stripped down the meeting to one three-hour session and reduced a joint communique to one page in an effort to minimise the chances of an outburst from the US president.

The message, confirmed as authentic by a White House official, revealed just how far Mr Rutte is prepared to go to stay in the president’s good books.

“You are flying into another big success in The Hague this evening,” he continued, explaining how other member states have agreed to increase their defence spending to 5 per cent of gross domestic product.

“Donald, you have driven us to a really, really important moment for America and Europe, and the world,” he wrote. “You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done.”

It was the second time Mr Trump had published a private text message in under a week, after he posted a screenshot of a personal exchange with his ambassador to Israel.

It also came shortly after Mr Trump had taken credit for a ceasefire arranged late on Monday night between Iran and Israel.

The truce threatened to unravel, however, on Tuesday morning after Iran fired two ballistic missiles which were intercepted over northern Israel.

Israel responded by sending warplanes to bomb Tehran as civilians who had previously fled poured back into the city.

The breaches infuriated Mr Trump who shouted at reporters on the White House lawn: “They don’t know what the f--- they’re doing, do you understand that?”

There were reports he held a last-ditch phone call with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to call off the Israeli jets flying on bombing raids to Iran.

The plea partially succeeded as Mr Netanyahu reportedly agreed to scale back the attacks, which eventually killed a senior police intelligence chief and a commander of a paramilitary.

Iran later said it had a “finger on the trigger” to retaliate, but the tit-for-tat strikes appeared to have ended completely by Tuesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump was headed for Europe to land in the Netherlands in time for a dinner with the royals ahead of the Nato summit on Wednesday.

The message from the Nato chief revealed just how much leaders were bending over backwards to accommodate the world’s most powerful man.

Austin Cantrell, a White House official during Mr Trump’s first term, said of the message: “He is speaking the president’s language, quite literally,

“And he’s also telling the president something that happens to be true, which is he is making a positive impact when it comes to Nato.”

When Mr Rutte was asked why the US president had shared the message, he said: “I don’t know but I have absolutely no trouble or problem with that because there’s nothing in it which had to stay secret.”

But there are challenges in the next 24 hours.

On his way over the Atlantic on Tuesday Mr Trump refused to say whether he would commit to Nato’s Article 5, which requires members to come to each other’s defence, as he flew to the summit.

He told reporters: “Depends on your definition. There’s numerous definitions of Article 5.

“But I’m committed to being their friends, you know, I’ve become friends with many of those leaders, and I’m committed to helping them.”

His words will trigger fresh alarm for allies already gathered in the Netherlands who have gone out of their way to back his spending demands.

Brett Bruen, the former director of Global Engagement at the White House, said simply: “Deterrence does not depend.”

A senior diplomatic source from a Nato nation also said that having just bombed Iran, and with US interests in the Middle East on high alert, it would be “tactically unwise” to suggest Nato’s Article 5 was flexible.

Without Washington’s guarantees – it provides about 70 per cent of capabilities and command and the US has 100,000 troops deployed in Europe – Nato would be radically diminished.

Asked to clarify his remarks, Mr Trump said that he was “committed to saving lives. I’m committed to life and safety.

“I’m going to give you an exact definition when I get there, I just don’t want to do it in the back of an airplane,” he told reporters.

The 5 per cent

Leaders of most of the 31 states in the pact have agreed to raise their spending to 5 per cent of gross domestic product. In return, they hoped that Mr Trump would underline his commitment to their defence during the two-date summit in The Hague.

“The president intends to secure a historic 5 per cent defence spending pledge from Nato allies, which will strengthen the alliance’s combined military capabilities and ensure greater stability in Europe and the world,” said a senior US official before the trip.

Mr Trump is expected to meet Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, on Wednesday, with no end in sight to the three-year war raging in his country.

Fred Kempe, the president of the Atlantic Council, said the spending pledges were part of an implicit deal with Article 5 at its heart.

“I think another test is if Europe can step up with this kind of spending and capabilities. If the US can stay in and continue to be the strong Article 5 guarantor, alongside its allies and partners, and continue to support Ukraine and its contest against the illegal and murderous invasion and continued war of Putin, that’s going to be an amazing outcome.

“This, then, will be a truly historic summit,” he said, before Mr Trump made his comments.

Mr Rutte said the summit came at a critical time.

“We meet at a truly historic moment, with significant and growing challenges to our security.

“As the world becomes more dangerous, allied leaders will take bold decisions to strengthen our collective defence, making Nato a stronger, fairer and more lethal alliance.”