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Trump says there’s nothing to see here.
But his talks with world leaders, in public, on the phone and in private, have frequently dropped jaws to the ground either for their unprecedented nature, their awkward details or their instant reversal of US policy.
He gave classified information to the Russian ambassador and foreign minister
He might not tell us about his interactions, but the Russians will
Sometimes we find out about such interactions from the foreign country, such as when the Russian government posted about a call Trump had made to Putin and the White House waited hours to confirm it occurred. According to the White House, the call was about wildfires in Siberia and trade. According to the Russians, the call included a promise of help from the US in dealing with the fires.
He gives the impression he’s agreeing with Putin
Trump’s meetings with Putin are routinely cause for concern and there have often been different interpretations about what happened in the meetings, such as when the Russians said after a two-hour meeting in July of 2017 that Trump accepted Putin’s assurances that Russia had not interfered in the US election.
Then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Trump had raised the issue and the two had a robust conversation.
He met alone with Putin and there are no detailed notes of what transpired
He changes US policy on a whim
He admits things to world leaders he won’t admit to American citizens
He also sought to allay the Mexican leader by saying the wall was the least important thing they were talking about even though the wall was the centerpiece of his presidential campaign and is the policy goal that has defined his presidency.
He can become frustrated
While deferential to leader like Putin and North Korea’s Kim, Trump can become frustrated with other world leaders, as he did with then Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Trump didn’t want to honor an agreement between Turnbull and President Barack Obama regarding refugees. After a long and contentious back-and-forth, Trump told Turnbull, “I have had it. I have been making these calls all day and this is the most unpleasant call all day. Putin was a pleasant call. This is ridiculous.”
He can berate US allies in their own country
Trump criticized then-UK Prime Minister Theresa May during an interview with a British tabloid while he was in England in July of 2018.
He also seemed to endorse current Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the same interview.
He can’t take criticism
His bromance with French President Emmanuel Macron may have already been on the rocks, but a phone call between the two on trade and migration went “horribly” after Macron criticized Trump’s policies, sources told CNN’s Michelle Kosinski and Maegan Vazquez. Trump had recently announced new steel tariffs and he had a similarly tense call with May.
He also had a tense call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about tariffs in June of 2017. The White House described that call as “amicable.” The Canadian version of the readout suggested Trudeau disputed “baseless” claims by the US Department of Commerce about Canadian lumber and described him as promising to “vigorously” defend Canada.
He makes things up
“I said, ‘Wrong, Justin, you do.’ I didn’t even know. … I had no idea. I just said, ‘You’re wrong,'” Trump recalled. “You know why? Because we’re so stupid. … And I thought they were smart. I said, ‘You’re wrong, Justin.’ He said, ‘Nope, we have no trade deficit.’ I said, ‘Well, in that case, I feel differently,’ I said, ‘but I don’t believe it.'”
Trump later argued on Twitter, despite the facts published by his commerce department, that there is a deficit.
He can come away with weird ideas about something serious like the climate crisis
After a meeting with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, Trump suggested during a tour of California wildfires that authorities there might consider raking more in American forests.
“I was with the President of Finland and he said we have — much different — we are a forest nation. He called it a forest nation,” Trump said. “And they spend a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things, and they don’t have any problem. And when it is, it’s a very small problem. So I know everybody’s looking at that to that end.”
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