WASHINGTON — NATO chief Mark Rutte will hold talks with Donald Trump in Washington on Wednesday, one day after the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire. The U.S. president has expressed anger at Western partners’ refusal to back his war on Iran, rocking the 77-year-old transatlantic alliance. He branded NATO partners “cowards” for limiting U.S. forces’ access to bases on their territories and for refusing to lead efforts to open the Strait of Hormuz. But NATO’s secretary-general touts a record of pulling Trump back onside — and will be looking to do so again when he meets the president, as well as US top diplomat Marco Rubio and defense chief Pete Hegseth. NATO has been thrust repeatedly into crisis since Trump returned to power last year — most acutely by his threat to seize the vast Arctic island of Greenland from fellow member Denmark. That followed him pulling the rug from under Ukraine in its war against Russia, threats not to protect allies if they don’t spend more on defense, and warnings that Washington could pull troops from Europe. Dubbed a “Trump whisperer
