It’s a shame, to put it mildly, that foreign leaders are developing strategies for having personal interactions with our president that resemble how battered wives deal with their husbands when they arrive home angry from work or the saloon.
For foreign leaders trying to figure out the best way to approach an American president unlike any they have known, it is a time of experimentation. Embassies in Washington trade tips and ambassadors send cables to presidents and ministers back home suggesting how to handle a mercurial, strong-willed leader with no real experience on the world stage, a preference for personal diplomacy and a taste for glitz.
After four months of interactions between Mr. Trump and his counterparts, foreign officials and their Washington consultants say certain rules have emerged: Keep it short — no 30-minute monologue for a 30-second attention span. Do not assume he knows the history of the country or its major points of contention. Compliment him on his Electoral College victory. Contrast him favorably with President Barack Obama. Do not get hung up on whatever was said during the campaign. Stay in regular touch. Do not go in with a shopping list but bring some sort of deal he can call a victory.
“If you were prepping people for Donald Trump, the two or three points would be: one, bear in mind this is still a guy who focuses on wins,” Peter Westmacott, a former British ambassador to the United States, said. “He likes to have wins for America and wins for himself from bilateral meetings.”
“Secondly,” he continued, “he is a deal maker, a pragmatist. Third, this is a guy with a limited attention span. He absolutely won’t want to listen to visitors droning on for a half-hour — or longer if they need an interpreter.”
It’s all about avoiding the temper and soothing the ego. The surest way to arouse his temper is to test his knowledge or his concentration. Almost as bad is to talk about yourself and your needs. So, walk on eggshells. Tell him he is better than his adversaries. Give him something he wants that he hasn’t earned. Don’t harangue him or bore him with details that distract him from his focus on himself and his worries.
And maybe, just maybe, he won’t beat the crap out of you just to make himself feel better for two minutes.
This isn’t any kind of way to build or maintain a relationship.
Members of his staff can quit and walk away. Foreign leaders may be feel compelled to interact with Trump. But this isn’t the correct solution. The correct solution is not to emulate the battered spouse, but to offer her support. In this scenario, it’s the American people and system that need someone to intervene and advocate on our behalf. We don’t need enablers who will reward bad behavior and allow it to continue.
We need help, and reassurance that things will be okay if we walk away from this relationship.
American people dobt want help.
. . . an English-language translation?
A crack because I hit b instead of n? Dude I have fat fingers and use mobile, and you can edit comments here.
Ah see? Can’t.
My approach to posting comments:
This is not to say errors, etc., never get past this process. They do (and it bugs me when it happens). But I make the effort. I think I owe anyone who might read it that much.
It’s a source of never-ending astonishment to me that so many people don’t see it that way. (You’re not special in this regard! You just happened to catch me in a moment of being even less tolerant than usual of the fact that — in a post consisting in its entirety of a single, 5-word sentence — you still couldn’t be bothered to check whether you were making any sense before your self-declared fat finger hit “post”.)
That is all.
Well, I am in fact a proofreader by trade, have been for over three decades, and given my execrable typing skills on any keyboard, complete with fat fingers, a thorough proofing of every post is imperative. Stuff still escapes me, but you oughtta see the first draft….
Also, too, when you type in the comment box, at least on all of the desktops/laptops I use, many spelling errors get that minatory red underline to help one catch them in midcomposition.
The medium used for posting is no excuse for hasty sloppiness.
Actually I corrected several errors in what I wrote, all of them due to me hitting the neighboring key on the mobile phone keyboard because its so damn small. Its even difficult manipulating the damn cursor. I hardly ever visit this site except on mobile. I don’t get janicket’s red browser underline. It doesnt help that the site is not optimized for mobile so that the right side of every post overlaps with numerous diary links.
Point taken about the preview. But since you asked….
La gente de los Estados Unidos no quiere ayuda.
You need to get a stylus pen for cellphones. They’re easily available, have a retractable tip that mimics a fingertip touch so touchscreens as well as keypads respond to them, don’t cost much, and make negotiating cellphones way easier. I never type anything on my phone without them.
For example: https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Cell-Phones-Accessories-2598900010-Stylus-Pens/zgbs/wirele
ss/2407783011
“Here’s the pit bull puppy from the States, sir. Feed him goodies and treats, tell him he’s such a good boy, and whatever you do, don’t make eye contact. He may pee on the rug or hump your leg, so be prepared. And hide all the pussies while he’s here.”
Foreign nations have their own separate interests and will never prioritize what is good for the American people over those interests.
sure, but read what they say.
they’re freaking out because we’re not reliable anymore.
Yes, but your quote shows how they are adjusting to deal with him. They are past the freakout stage and are gaming out how to manipulate Trump to further their interests.
Justin Trudeau, for example, is not looking to rock the boat with Trump. Europe will deal with Trump just like they deal with Putin. Out of necessity, not love.
Some nations, like KSA or Turkey, are good and comfortable doing this because it fits in with how they operate.
As of now, he has accomplished nothing of consequence overseas. This is probably a good thing.
Well, that’s the thing. His existence is a kind of international crisis. Foreign leaders don’t really have the luxury of displaying their moral and aesthetic disapproval just at the moment; their first concern has to be preserving institutions like NATO and the UN from Trump’s ignorant vandalism and Putin’s maneuvers.
Upward management–flattery, and making him believe, when you tell him what needs to be done, that it was his idea–is the most effective way to get the job done, as you know if you’ve ever worked for an abusive boss. Disgusting and shameful, but if it saves the Paris agreement and the Iran deal our grandchildren won’t mind. Getting rid of him is Americans’ job.
That speech he plans to give in Saudi Arabia, if he tries to explain Islam to the Muslims of the world….that will be the best ISIS recruiting video ever. The NATO/EU response will be swift and brutal.
CNN reports it’s being written by none other than that paragon of Islam-embracing understanding, Stephen Miller.
What could possibly go wrong?
“And maybe, just maybe, he won’t beat the crap out of you just to make himself feel better for two minutes.”
Actually, if you brown-nose him real good, he’ll probably give you anything you ask for. That’s definitely an incentive.
No, if you brown-nose him real good, you’ll give him anything he asks for, and then surrender your entire reputation, identity, honor and dignity when he throws you under the bus.
Yes, that’s true of the little guys like Christie and Mitt Romney who couldn’t do anything for him anyway. And he’s certainly a vindictive SOB.
But that’s not what I meant. What I’m talking about is much bigger than that — as reflected in, for example, two quotes from today’s Times:
“With Mr. Trump embattled at home, there’s a real danger that in his eagerness for a successful visit he will agree to almost anything his hosts desire … ” (A22)
Hint: They know that. And they know how to brown-nose him too, as shown by the next quote:
“His hosts will try to talk about subjects Trump prefers. The Israeli leaders remember that when their prime minister was in Washington, the president responded to a press conference question about anti-Semitism in America by reminding everyone he had won 306 Electoral College votes. Peter Baker reported in the The Times that as heads of state were preparing for the big trip, all of them were being primed to remember to bring up that Electoral College thing a lot.”
That’s the kind of brown-nosing I was referring to. Exactly what Booman is saying they should not do. I just don’t think they will follow Booman’s advice.