Normally, the United States ambassador to the Netherlands has a harmonious time, with few controversies, in a safe country that is one of America’s oldest allies.
Friendliness has its limits, though, and tenacious Dutch reporters showed Peter Hoekstra, America’s new envoy, that he could be in for a rough ride.
Mr. Hoekstra, a Trump nominee and a former nine-term congressman from Michigan, formally took up his post on Wednesday. Celebratory smiles turned to grimaces, however, when, at what should have been a pro forma news conference, Mr. Hoekstra ran into journalists who wouldn’t take no comment for an answer.
It all began in December, when a Dutch TV reporter asked Mr. Hoekstra about comments he made in 2015. “The Islamic movement has now gotten to a point where they have put Europe into chaos,” Mr. Hoekstra said at the time. “Chaos in the Netherlands. There are cars being burned. There are politicians that are being burned … and yes, there are no-go zones in the Netherlands.”
Mr. Hoekstra said the reporter’s claim about the statement was “fake news.” The reporter then showed a video clip of the remarks, prompting Mr. Hoekstra to deny he had just used the term “fake news.” The exchange went viral.
Last week, Dutch reporters had one question they particularly wanted to press Mr. Hoekstra on: Would he admit that his 2015 claims were false, or could he cite an example of a Dutch politician who was burned in recent years?
Looking like a deer in headlights, the ambassador tried to brush off his interrogators. Maybe Mr. Hoekstra had watched President Trump spew lies and hate without apology for so long that he thought he could get away with it, too. Not in The Hague, apparently. The journalists came back repeatedly — “This is the Netherlands, you have to answer questions,” one said.
