U.S. President Donald Trump's press conference wraps with a question about if he considers NATO members his children. The president concluded a summit-ending news conference by taking a question about NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte having suggested on Wednesday that Trump was “Daddy” to the alliance. Asked if he considers NATO allies his children, Trump chuckled but didn’t offer a direct answer. "No, he likes me. I think he likes me,” Trump said of Rutte. The president used comments earlier in his press conference to heap praise on most NATO members for agreeing to increase their defense spending. Trump said he came to the NATO summit as a political chore, but is leaving convinced that the assembled leaders love the alliance, their own countries and, mostly importantly, the United States. "I came here because it was something I was supposed to be doing. But I left here a little bit different," Trump said. He called NATO leaders a “nice group of people” and said “almost every one of them, said, Thank God for the United States.” Trump praised most member countries for agreeing to increase defense spending as part of the alliance. He said, “They need the United States and without the United States it's not going to be the same." __ Reporter asking question: "Mark Rutte, the NATO chief who is is your friend, he called you Daddy earlier. Do you regard your NATO allies as kind of children?" Pres. Trump: No, he likes me. I think he likes me. If he doesn't, I'll let you know. I'll come back and I'll hit him hard, OK? He did, he did it very affectionate 'Daddy, you're my Daddy.'" Reporter: "Do you regard your NATO allies though as kind of like children and they're obviously listening to you and they're spending more and you're, you're obviously appreciative of that. But do you hope that actually they're going to be able to defend themselves, defend Europe on their own without ..." Pres. Trump: "I think they need help a little bit at the beginning and I think they'll be able to and I think they're gonna remember this day and this is a big day for NATO, you know this was a very big day. They took it, one of the gentlemen said, you know what, we've been trying to raise money for raise the rate for 30 years, he said. 20 years, from almost the beginning. And he's been there for a long time. He said, until you came along, it never happened. What you did is amazing. It's been sort of an amazing day for a lot of reasons, but also for that, yeah, go ahead." Reporter: "Do you think they can do it without you though, in the future? Pres. Trump: "Can they do it ? Well ask Mark (Rutte). I mean you have to ask Mark."