Why Donald Trump Seems Better to Hear with Strong Leaders Like Putin Than with the Historic Allies of the United States

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Guess which of these two phrases the President of the United States, Donald Trump, referred to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau:

1) "Very dishonest and weak"

2) "He is a good competitor, and I think the word competitor is a compliment"

Answer: Trump dedicated the first sentence to Trudeau last month and the second to Putin on Monday after the to have met. It may come as a surprise to anyone who remembers that, according to the United States, Canada is a allied democracy and Russia a threatens its security whose government violates human rights and maintains Political prisoners

But the truth is that Trump seems to improve more and more with powerful leaders like Putin or North Korean Kim Jong-un, and by distancing himself from Washington's partners in America or Europe .

The phenomenon has been criticized by members of the Republican Trump party and is considered unprecedented for an American president, at least since the last century.

• "The most serious error of his presidency": that the words of Trump after his meeting with Putin provoked outrage in the United States
• 4 difficult questions that mark the summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Helsinki (and why the meeting is so important)

"This is unprecedented since the Second World War and probably in American history from the beginning" , says Joan Hoff, expert at Montana State University on the history of the US presidency and diplomacy, BBC World

"Sympathy for Autocrats"

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The contrast between the way Trump treats the traditional allies of the United States and the country leaders his government considers hostile became clear during his tour of Europe in recent days.

Trump questioned how British Prime Minister Theresa May manages the Brexit negotiation to leave the Union of the European Union, he suggested continuing the bloc, that He called it a US commercial competitor, and demanded more military spending from NATO partners.

But Trump's cutting-edge, combative tone with other leaders dissipated on Monday, when he appeared in Finland with Putin at the first bilateral summit of the two presidents.

Trump cast doubt on the conclusion of his own intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the US elections of 2016. and noted that Putin was "extremely strong and powerful in his refusal" of these reports.

• Trump claims that Russia "had no reason" to intervene in the elections and defends Putin's position after his meeting in Helsinki

Also avoided criticizing the Russian leader for the annexation of Crimea and left that he himself explained the differing opinions of both in this case.

"It was some very constructive hours we spent together," said Trump at his press conference with Putin, who gave him a 2018 World Cup ball.

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"The damage inflicted by the naivety, selfishness, false equivalence and sympathy of President Trump against autocrats is hard to calculate," said Republican Senator John McCain.

"No previous president abject refused before a tyrant ," he said in a statement

"Personality or Character"

This is not The first time Trump drew attention to approach leaders accused of authoritarianism and human rights violations, without referring to these problems in public.

For example, in November he met with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who, according to human rights groups, is promoting thousands of extrajudicial executions to fight drugs and Last month, after breaking the consensus at the G7 summit in Canada and accused Mr. Trudeau of being "dishonest and weak," he met North Korean Kim Jong-un to discuss the denuclearization Although the results of this historic meeting in Singapore are still uncertain, Trump has since alluded to the North Korean leader as "funny", "intelligent" and "talented".

No previous president he abstained more abjectly in front of a tyrant "

John McCain, Republican Senator

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Michael Shifter and David Toppelberg, Center for Hemispheric Analysis Inter-American Dialogue, believe that the exception to the rule is the strong leaders of Venezuela and Cuba, which Trump may have faced for reasons of domestic and ideological politics.

"He is difficult to reconcile the badent of the president – in fact, the frequent praise of the president. to strong men around the world with their claim to democracy and human rights in Venezuela and Cuba, "said the two experts in a column published in the newspaper T New York Times Monday

Of course, it is far from being a novelty that an American president meet leaders considered dictators or autocrats from different regions.

But experts as Hoff point out that the difference with Trump is that he seems to lack a clear strategy or purpose.

"He meets these leaders because maybe in terms of personality or of character can better relate to them than with Western leaders who are allies, "says this former head of the presidency's Study Center.

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Others believe that Trump 's attitude towards strong leaders is related to his business training who directly managed his businesses .

"He feels more comfortable with the authoritarian model of doing business, where you act on your own without the checks and balances that accompany the democratic process," says Joshua Sandman, an expert on behavior. President at the University of New Haven, BBC Mundo.

But he also argues that by criticizing the allies of NATO, the European Union or the G7, Trump wants to show firmness in front of countries that in his opinion trade unfairly with the United States. "

" He is part of the personality that he wants to project as strong as diplomatically, says Sandman

"And the people of the interior (of the US) who voted for him (…) like that, think that it is authentic ." [19659056] You can now receive notifications from BBC News World Download the new version of our application and activate it to not miss our best content.