On his very first day as Colombia’s new President, Abelardo de la Espriella received a dramatic house-warming gift: a billion dollars, courtesy of Donald Trump. Three days later, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck the country – but correlation is not causation.

The President’s ten-figure donative arrived as aid for the militarised crackdown de la Espriella has promised against Colombia’s fearsome drug cartels and jungle guerillas. And de la Espriella quickly showed himself eager to align with President Trump by adding Colombia to the Shield of the Americas, Trump’s signature new venture in Latin America.

With this old-fashioned exchange of gifts, de la Espriella became the newest member of the eclectic global club of Trump allies. This is not a stable alliance. It is an ever-changing club of men, some of them well-known (Javier Milei, Mohammed bin Salman); some more obscure (Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa) and some freshly departed (farewell, Viktor Orban).

No American leader has ever brought such a personal dimension to his international forays

No American leader has ever brought such a personal dimension to his international forays

Every American president conducts foreign policy, and plenty of presidents have had famous friendships with foreign counterparts. But no American chief executive has ever brought such a personal dimension to all his international forays: Trump allies himself with individual leaders.

He gets along well with so many Latin American leaders in no small part because his brash, aggressive, ‘big man’ personality perfectly aligns with Latin America’s caudillo tradition. In the Middle East, the gaudy splendour of the Gulf monarchies matches the President’s own tastes, as does their enthusiasm for making (or at least promising) big investments into the American economy. And it is worth wondering if Trump’s genial relationship with Japan derives as much from its leaders’ unfailing politeness towards him as it does from their readiness to expand their military to contain China.

What stands out most, though, is the frankness of Trumpian diplomacy. For decades America favoured the bland language of global leadership, superficial fairness, democracy promotion, rhetoric for a Cold War victor whose global power looked absolute if not permanent. The New York tycoon is more straightforward: America is a powerful country, but not an invincible one, with interests it feels no shame in pursuing, and an agile readiness to befriend leaders who are amenable – or turn on those who are not.

The result has been a diplomatic cascade. Leaders who play ball with Trump’s priorities and pay him an adequate amount of respect can expect both his support and eventual rewards (or averted punishments) for their........

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