Jens Stoltenberg, the former secretary-general of NATO, has been appointed as finance minister of Norway, the government announced on Tuesday. 

Stoltenberg headed NATO for a decade, including during US President Donald Trump's first term, before stepping down and handing the reins over to current Secretary-General Mark Rutte. 

At NATO, Stoltenberg was dubbed the "Trump-whisperer" for convincing Trump to stick with the alliance after the US president complained during his first term that allies were spending too little on defense and threatened to pull out.

Reputation as a pragmatist

Viewed as a pragmatist with good political intuition, Stoltenberg's term at NATO was extended following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Before heading NATO, the 65-year-old had previously been Norway's prime minister as well as finance minister. 

Stoltenberg, a member of the Norwegian Labor Party, is returning to government after Norway's governing coalition split last week with the junior partner, the Center Party, exiting the coalition.

Stoltenberg takes on the key role as the Labor government lags in the polls ahead of September elections and as a possible transatlantic trade war looms on the horizon.

Munich Security Conference without Stoltenberg 

Stoltenberg was due to take over as head of the Munich Security Conference in Germany, a leading forum for discussions of international security policy.

The Munich Security Conference said in a post on X that Stoltenberg would "return to his pro-bono position at the helm of the MSC once he leaves public office when his tenure as finance minister was over." 

Edited by: Roshni Majumdar