World

In light of Donald Trump's contentious Oval Office meetings with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa, foreign leaders and diplomats are looking for a roadmap for how to deal with Donald Trump when they meet with him privately and before the cameras.

According to a report from CNN, second-term Trump is far different than the unsure Trump who won a surprising victory in 2016 and world leaders are having to adjust accordingly.

The report notes, "There are signs ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned White House visit Monday that even he is looking to avoid any chance of a fight, despite his close relationship with Trump. After Trump said Tuesday that he planned to be 'very firm' with Netanyahu on the need for a ceasefire in Gaza, an Israeli official indicated they accepted the terms of a 60-day ceasefire proposal about 24 hours later."

According to Gérard Araud, who served as France’s ambassador during Trump’s first presidency the first rule is, "You never contradict Trump publicly, because he will lose face and that’s something that he can’t accept.”

He added that during Trump's first presidency, the president was "insecure, he didn’t know the job. He hated to be patronized.”

Now he claims, "You should first be profusely grateful. You should really compliment the president. There is a sort of North Korean side in the White House. And you should let Trump really talk and talk.”

“A phone call with Trump. It’s a minimum 45 minutes, and you have at least 40 minutes of Trump," he joked.

Suggesting visitors treat Trump like “a whimsical and unpredictable child,” he warned, "Trump’s the only one making decisions,” he added, “and he’s making decisions from the hip.”

You can read more here.

Donald Trump's twin obsessions of wanting to be center stage all the time combined with his desire to be linked to popular sporting events may put him on a collision course with his most rabid MAGA supporters.

That is according to Politico which is reporting that the Trump administration is bending over backwards to accommodate the 2026 World Cup to be played in the U.S. at the same time that the same administration is waging war on immigrants and foreign visitors.

According to Politico's Sophia Cai, a quick phone call to the White House from Alex Lasry, CEO of the New York-New Jersey 2026 World Cup Host Committee, got the White House to call off plans to send “suited and booted” ICE agents to matches which had alarmed officials after it was posted on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Facebook page. That Facebook post was later deleted.

The report notes that all the harsh rhetoric about foreigners coming to the U.S. fades into the background when it comes to the world's most popular sport holding its most popular event in Trump's U.S.

As Cai wrote, Trump's apparent desire to make himself a main character during the World Cup has led his administration to work more closely not only with foreign governments but the leaders in the cities and states hosting games, many of them Democrats.

"Trump has long gravitated personally to the testosterone and glitz of athletic competition," Cai wrote before adding, "Now in his second he has the opportunity to preside over the games themselves. But that requires his administration to coordinate logistically complex events that rely on the type of global cooperation and free movement of people that is anathema to Trump’s 'America First' agenda."

Adding, "Enthusiasm for the pageantry has led Trump to quickly embrace every aspect of what will be among the largest sporting events ever, even at the risk of alienating his most loyal supporters," Cai reported Trump "regularly dismisses the United Nations, NATO and World Health Organization, [but] he caters to the demands of FIFA."

Alan Rothenberg, who assisted in putting on the 1994 U.S. World Cup, suggested, "Trump, as we all know, likes attention. How could you have more attention than a couple billion people watching you kick out the ceremonial first ball and awarding the World Cup trophy to the ultimate champion?”

According to the report, in May, Vice President J.D. Vance was put on the spot about the administration, "attempting to balance its otherwise uncompromising attitude towards foreign visitors with a newfound desire to welcome soccer fans."

Vance replied,"We want them to come, we want them to celebrate, we want them to watch the game. But when the time is up, they’ll have to go home. Otherwise they’ll have to talk to Secretary [Kristi] Noem.”

You can read more here.

According to a White House insider who is deeply involved in talks with U.S. trading partners, Donald Trump's tariff threats are not to be taken seriously because they are just a "theatrical show" being put on by the attention-obsessed president.

According to a report from Politico, as Trump's 90-day window on getting trade deals done before onerous tariffs are put in place looms, there is no real urgency at the White House which has negotiators and even some White House staff taking a dim view of the proceedings.

Politico's Daniel Desrochers and Megan Messerly are reporting, "Foreign officials, trade experts, lawmakers and even some White House allies have expressed a nihilistic view of the July deadline, questioning whether a deal with the Trump administration means anything at all given the president’s penchant for using tariffs as leverage to get his way."

After noting Trump himself was wavering this past week when he told reporters, "We could extend it, we could make it shorter. I’d like to make it shorter,” one insider offered a candid assessment about what is really going on.

“Trump knows the most interesting part of his presidency is the tariff conversation,” they admitted. “I find it hard to believe he’s going to surrender it that easily. It’s all fake. There’s no deadline. It’s a self-imposed landmark in this theatrical show, and that’s where we are.”

The report notes that the president has delegated negotiations to three individuals, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, with Politico is reporting they have little actual authority and are often working at cross purposes.

"The result has been a convoluted process with little progress and no end in sight. Countries have sent representatives to the U.S. on repeated visits to negotiate, but some have failed to secure meetings. Those who have secured facetime with Trump officials have sometimes left confused about U.S. demands or have been later seen their countries chastised by Trump on social media," the report states.

Another White House insider suggested Trump just likes the attention tariff threats bring him.

“You have wins. Take them,” they remarked. "You only have to assume he doesn’t want to take them because he likes the game too much.”

You can read more here.