When foreign leaders meet with Donald Trump, they are walking a tightrope: They can be welcomed with open arms or be publicly belittled.
It all depends on the rapport they have built with the US president.
President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa knew he would be entering a tense White House meeting Wednesday with Trump.
But what awaited him surprised everyone: Trump dimmed the lights and played a video he claimed proves genocide is being committed against white farmers in South Africa — not your typical welcome for a head of state.
Trump and his allies have been spreading the baseless claims, which the government in Pretoria has dismissed as false.
“You do allow them to take land, and then when they take the land, they kill the white farmer, and when they kill the white farmer, nothing happens to them,” Trump said.
Ramaphosa struggled to get a word in as he listened to the claims. But he remained calm as he denied that his country confiscates land from white farmers, and pushed his calls for improved relations after Trump offered refuge to dozens of Afrikaners of South Africa’s largest white minority.
Israel’s premier was the first foreign leader to visit the White House since Trump’s second-term inauguration on January 20.
“You are the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House,” Benjamin Netanyahu told Trump, after the US president suggested redeveloping war-ravaged Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Following the visit, Trump shared an AI-generated video showing him and Netanyahu sipping cocktails at the imaginary resort.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer tried to woo Trump amid growing concerns in Europe that the US leader would sell Kyiv short and take Russia’s position on its three-year war on Ukraine.
During a White House meeting in February, Starmer handed Trump — a long-term fan of Britain’s royals — a letter from King Charles III inviting him for an unprecedented second state visit by a US president.
But not even the staunchest US ally is assured a warm reception. When Canada’s newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney traveled south of the border in early May, he was met by a US leader bristling over international trade.
“We don’t really want cars from Canada,” or its steel or aluminum, Trump told Carney, adding it was hard to justify the United States subsidizing its northern neighbor through a trade imbalance or military assistance.
Carney called the talks “very constructive,” but appeared to stand firm when Trump repeated his antagonistic call for Canada to become the 51st US state.
“There are some places that are never for sale,” Carney told Trump. Canada “won’t be for sale, ever.”
Argentina’s Javier Milei is cut from the same cloth as his US counterpart: an anti-woke climate change skeptic who loves social media and is a fan of both Elon Musk and Israel.
After winning November’s US election, Trump called Milei and described him as his “favorite president,” according to the Argentine presidency.
Milei was also the first foreign leader received by then president-elect Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate, and later attended his inauguration.
The Finnish president spent seven hours with Trump in Florida on March 29 — for a round of golf.
“He’s a very good player,” Trump said of Stubb on his Truth Social platform in which he also spoke of buying ice-breaker vessels from Finland.
Stubb later said it was thanks to his father’s claim that golf “will be useful in your life at some stage” that he got to spend so much time with the US president.
Jokes, virile handshakes, compliments and amicable gestures were on display when French President Emmanuel Macron visited Washington in February.
“He’s a smart customer,” Trump said of Macron, who has made it his mission to be firm but friendly with the US commander in chief.
When Narendra Modi visited in February, Trump said they shared a “special bond” and complimented the Indian prime minister on being a “much tougher negotiator” than he is.
Trump, as he unveiled his tariffs, cemented his praise for Modi, whom he called a “great friend” — though he added India had not been “treating us right.”
Ukraine’s president has been on the receiving end of the most public humiliations doled out by Trump this year, being labeled a “dictator” who “has done a terrible job” leading his war-torn country.
Their Oval Office clash in late February stunned US allies. Since then, Volodymyr Zelensky has been at pains to try to mend the relationship.
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