Never write Trump off: this was his best week in office
Donald Trump is enjoying his best week in office since he first became president nine years ago. To use mafia parlance, he is finally getting the “respect” he believes he deserves as capo di tutti capi.
The 31 other nations gathered for the Nato summit this week all bowed down before him as World King – Boris Johnson eat your heart out, Ozempic permitting.
Presidents and prime ministers have always accepted that the leader of the world’s richest and most powerful nation is first among not-so-equals. But until now the President of the United States has played along with the idea of co-operating on a consensual basis with allies and rivals in global institutions.
No longer. Such democratic-style niceties have been cast aside. By force of will and brute behaviour, Trump is not just getting what he wants – he is also forcing the rest of the world to play by his rules, and accept his bullying behaviour as the norm. Never mind United Nations resolutions, Nato and G7 communiqués – what he says goes.
Everything about the summit was tailored to the American Emperor’s tastes. The meeting which usually stretches over several days and many hours was cut short. Trump spent less than 24 hours in total in the Netherlands and that included an overnight stay at the Royal Palace Huis Ten Bosch as the guest of King Willem-Alexander and his Argentina-born Queen Maxima.
The former Dutch prime minister, now Nato secretary-general, Mark Rutte, even outdid his monarchs’ brown-nosing. Trump broadcast Rutte’s private fawning greeting as a fitting tribute: “Mr........
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