President Donald Trump has found support from an unlikely source in Europe — Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte — who told CNBC that the president could be a catalyst for much-needed reforms.

"The U.S. has voted and Trump is the president and maybe he will be re-elected ... So we have to work with him, and I think he is an opportunity," Rutte told CNBC's Geoff Cutmore at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"He is an opportunity to make changes to some of those multilateral institutions that we hold dearly, like the World Trade Organization (WTO) which is not functioning very well. Or take the United Nations or European Union — there are many issues to solve," he added.

"So my point would be instead of thinking 'oh we would have liked Hillary Clinton to win,' or 'I wish (former President Barack) Obama was still there,' but guys Trump is president, make use of his presidency and his critique of those international institutions is sometimes very valid."

Trump has made himself unpopular in most European circles for his criticism of hallowed, well-established institutions such as the NATO and the WTO (Trump threatened to pull the U.S. out of both) and the European Union (which Trump said was formed in order to take advantage of the U.S. in terms of trade). He has also threatened to impose tariffs on European goods and cars; hardly the policies that would make most liberal politicians, like Mark Rutte, warm to Trump.