Now, as he makes his third run for president, the media landscape of 2024 is markedly different than it was in 2016, in no small part due to Trump himself. Trump remains no less obsessed, but this has changed some of how Trump engages with the media. . ."
Meridith McGraw is a national political correspondent for POLITICO.
HOW DONALD TRUMP MAKES SOME NEWS
Trump meets with foreign leaders looking to boost their relationships with GOP leader ahead of election
Some of the leaders whom Trump has engaged have been at times at odds with Biden. Trump, for example, recently hosted Hungarian President Viktor Orban, who frequently shows deference to Putin, and he embraced backstage with Argentina’s new right-wing populist leader Javier Milei at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference.
During the evening with Orban, amid a concert at his Palm Beach resort, the former president heaped accolades on the European autocrat, telling the crowd: “There’s nobody that’s better, smarter or a better leader than Viktor Orbán. He’s fantastic.”
The meeting was illustrative of Trump’s history of embracing global strongmen – at times at the expense of more traditional US allies. A Biden administration official confirmed to CNN at the time that the White House did not extend an invitation to the authoritarian leader to meet with Biden, and Orbán did not request a White House meeting during his trip to the US.
But Trump’s incursions into foreign affairs have also brought him in close proximity with America’s partners abroad.
- Trump’s meeting with Aso comes just two weeks after Biden hosted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House for a state visit. Both Aso and Kishida are leaders in Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which is the country’s major conservative political party.
During the state dinner earlier this month, Biden touted the US-Japan alliance as being “stronger than it’s ever been” and announced new plans for military cooperation with the country. Japan has been at the center of Biden’s alliance-building in the Indo-Pacific region, with Kishida significantly shifting the country’s defense posture in recent years and providing ongoing support to Ukraine.
- Trump also spoke by phone in March with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, two sources familiar with the call told CNN. The call, first reported by the New York Times, was arranged by Sen. Lindsey Graham while the South Carolina Republican was visiting Salman. The conversation came as the Biden administration is working behind the scenes to establish formal diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, a deal that the White House views as a crucial part of negotiations to end the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
- Trump also spoke by phone with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain, a longtime American ally, in March, two sources familiar with the conversation told CNN. The New York Times first reported the details of the call.
- Last week, Trump met with Poland’s Duda at Trump Tower, where the two discussed NATO spending over dinner. Duda has proposed that NATO countries increase their pledge to spend 3% of their GDP on defense, up from 2%.
Trump, both while president and during his 2024 campaign, has called on NATO countries to spend more on defense. During a campaign rally in February, Trump said he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to any NATO member country that doesn’t meet spending guidelines. The stunning remark received swift backlash from Republicans and Democrats alike, and raised concerns that Trump may not abide by the collective-defense clause at the heart of the NATO alliance if reelected.
Duda, meanwhile, previously spoke about the proposal with Biden at the March NATO gathering, telling the American president: “Two percent was good ten years ago. Now three percent is required in response to the full-scale war launched by Russia right beyond NATO’s eastern border.”
- Earlier this month, Trump also discussed NATO defense spending and the Russia-Ukraine war over dinner with Cameron, the British foreign secretary, at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
- Karen Pierce, the British ambassador to the United States, also attended the dinner.
Cameron’s visit came days before the former UK Prime Minister met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington to discuss the US sending more aid to Ukraine. A spokesperson for the British government called Cameron’s meeting with Trump “standard practice,” arguing it wasn’t unusual for there to be engagement between ministers and opposition candidates of partner nations.
Trump, Cameron and Pierce didn’t just talk about military pacts during their Mar-a-Lago gathering. According to a readout of the meeting, the three “also discussed their mutual admiration for the late Queen Elizabeth II.”
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