*Originally published in 2025 and preserved as part of our archive project. E-International Relations is free to read. We rely on reader support to make this possible.

When Donald Trump spoke at the Gaza ceasefire ceremony in Cairo in October 2025, he transformed what would ordinarily have been a solemn diplomatic event into something more akin to a comedy ‘roast’.  Some of the most powerful people in the world watched as Trump performed a comedy act that involved their almost ritual humiliation. Not only did Trump make jokes at the expense of a variety of Prime Ministers and Presidents, but he accepted, if not demanded, their praise. And praise him they did, calling for Trump to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and describing him as a figure of world historical importance. There were other populist leaders present, including Viktor Orban and Giorgia Meloni, but none sought to match Trump’s vulgarity or challenge his jokes and insults.

Trump did what, perhaps, no other contemporary leader could do and retain their position. He asked the Pakistani prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, whether he would now “live very nicely” with India, and when Sharif gave a halting reply, joked that he was disappointed by the response. He mentioned the absence of Norway’s Prime Minister, asking, “What happened, Norway?” He called Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni “a beautiful young woman,” acknowledging that such a comment could end a political career in the United States, before declaring, “I’ll take my chances.” The audience laughed, as well they might have, because none of them had the courage to tell Trump to his face that his behaviour was inappropriate. Rather than stick to his prepared remarks, Trump drifted freely between stories and asides. He joked about the cost of Egyptian fighter jets, praised their beauty, and reminisced about Air Force One flying over the desert sands. His stories deflated the ceremony’s gravity and replaced it with his own comic authority, with Trump as a sort of Don Rickles style insult comedian licensed to dish out........

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