Trump Interaction With World Leaders: Not Pleasant in Most Cases

Trump and Oval Office Closest Circle

(During call with Putin)

Here we go again: President Trump went on a rant about how NATO members and China are taking advantage of the US during a phone call with French President Francois Hollande in another odd exchange with a foreign leader, it was reported Wednesday.

Quotes from a senior official to Politico about the call: “It’s was not the usual way heads of state speak to each other. Mr. Trump spoke in slogans and the conversation was not completely organized.”

The Trump (January 28) was to address issues of concern for both countries, like fighting terrorism and ISIS.

Then Trump veered off about NATO not paying its fair share, as he pressed Hollande on the alliance’s duties saying in part: “We want our money back” (the official source said Trump seemed to be “obsessing over money.”).

That phone conversation with President Hollande follows a similar pattern of calls with the leaders Australia and Mexico.

Very disturbing to say the least … but his call to Putin were cordial and buddy-buddy like officials claim – why is that do you suppose?

BFF's

Extract of call between Trump and Putin here from NPR:

The Kremlin has given a positive readout of the long-awaited phone call (January 29) between Trump and Vladimir Putin.

1.  Putin's overture to the United States to join forces in the fight against international terrorism was the main subject of the one-hour conversation.

2.  Thorny issues such as alleged Russian cyber-attacks on U.S. political parties or economic sanctions on Russia weren't mentioned.

Russian state television welcomed the change in tone between Washington and Moscow following open hostility in the last weeks of Barack Obama's presidency saying in part: “The conversation was supposed to return substance and sense to the Russian-American dialogue. By all appearances that's what happened,” quoted Konstantin Kosachyov, head of the foreign relations committee in Russia's upper chamber of parliament. 

Who's next on the nasty call list we wonder?