Get it right, and you could score a major win for your country. Get it wrong, and you might face a global dressing-down.
If you’re a foreign leader visiting the White House, chances are you’ll be thrust into a public Oval Office meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has ditched closed-door confabs for televised joint press conferences.
Often playing out like high-stakes hazing rituals, these on-camera audiences have tested the diplomatic nerve and dexterity of presidents and prime ministers like little else.
“Trump is a master at filmed conflict. Much of his persona was built on ‘The Apprentice,’” said Timothy J. Lynch, professor of American politics at the University of Melbourne, referencing the reality show Trump hosted for 14 seasons.
Trump “has taken to heart the impact value of this intimate format: a front room and two antagonists,” Lynch told POLITICO, adding that the president relishes using Oval Office grillings to pile pressure onto friends and adversaries alike — much like his boardroom showdowns on “The Apprentice.” “They are likely to be a test of the mettle of all leaders sitting on that couch.”
We rate which leaders aced their test, who flunked out — and who might have been better off just staying home.
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Who: Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba
When: Feb. 7
How did it go? Trump likes to think of himself as a warrior for his cause. “I am your warrior, I am your justice,” he told a rally in Texas in 2023. When he was grazed by an assassin’s bullet at a rally in Pennsylvania in 2024, he famously raised a fist and roared to the crowd, “Fight, fight, fight!” (There was also that time he danced with a sword to YMCA.)
Perhaps aware of this, Japan’s prime minister gifted Trump a stunning golden samurai helmet crafted just for him, a fitting present for a leader who often deploys combative rhetoric and has a strong affinity for the color gold.
Ishiba also announced plans to increase Japan’s investment in the U.S. to $1 trillion and import more American gas — Christmas come early for a president who has repeatedly declared he wants to “drill baby, drill.”
Otherwise, there was little to note from the cordial meeting between Ishiba and Trump, a fact which no doubt elicited sighs of relief in Tokyo.
“On television, he is very frightening,” the Japanese prime minister confessed to reporters after the discussion. “But when I met him, he was very sincere, very powerful and strong-willed.”
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***
Who: French President Emmanuel Macron
When: Feb. 24
How did it go? Given the potential for a relations-wrecking squabble, it might seem safest to simply agree with whatever Trump says. Push back too hard, and you could start a slanging match with a president who has threatened to annex Greenland and crater Canada’s economy.
But roll over too easily and voters and colleagues back home will see you as spineless and sycophantic. Macron proved adept at this delicate push-and-pull when he fact-checked Trump in real time, correcting the U.S. leader’s claim that Europe had been repaid most of its aid for Ukraine.
“No, in fact, to be frank, we paid,” Macron smoothly interjected, placing a mollifying hand on his counterpart’s arm as he explained that the European Union did not, in fact, get its money back from Kyiv.
The gentle rebuke, delivered with every bit of Macron’s boyish insouciance, earned a sheepish smile and a rare concession (sort of) from Trump. “If you believe that, it’s OK with me,” he said, adding at another point during the meeting that Macron was a “very special man.” Macron, in turn, affectionately referred to Trump as “dear Donald.”
Few leaders handle Trump as well as Macron, nor have so much personal history with the U.S. president. The French leader showed as much during his one-on-one, initiating an easy rapport without selling out the EU and Ukraine.
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***
Who: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer
When: Feb. 27
How did it go? Flattery will get you everywhere, including, apparently, into the good graces of Trump. Starmer showered the president with praise, expertly playing on his well-documented admiration for the British monarchy by theatrically producing a letter from King Charles III inviting him round for tea at Buckingham Palace.
“It’s an invitation for a second state visit. This is really special. This has never happened before. This is unprecedented,” Starmer crowed with all the enthusiasm of a home shopping channel host hawking a last-minute deal on a kitchen knife set.
Was the smarm laid on a little thick? Perhaps. But Trump is not a subtle man. And the gesture won the British prime minister plaudits back home, with the front page of the i newspaper deeming him “Charmer Starmer.”
In one testy moment with Vice President JD Vance (more on him in a minute), however, Starmer defended his country’s record on free speech, after Vance claimed “infringements” in Britain were hurting American citizens.
London “wouldn’t want to reach across U.S. citizens, and we don’t, and that’s absolutely right. But in relation to free speech in the U.K. I’m very proud of our history there,” Starmer retorted, leaning forward out of his seat.
Mark Vlasic, an adjunct professor of law and public policy at Georgetown University, told POLITICO that Starmer showed “how best to engage with this White House.”
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Who: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
When: Feb. 28
How did it go? Diplomacy is a blood sport, and never more so than in dealings with Trump. If you say the wrong thing, you won’t emerge from the White House unscathed, even if you’re an ally.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy learned that the hard way after his public flaying by Trump and Vance.
In a remarkably hostile exchange that saw Trump raise his voice, Zelenskyy — who was visiting Washington to put the finishing touches on a minerals agreement and shore up U.S. support for his battle-weary country — tried to tell a seething Vance that Russia could not be trusted to respect a negotiated ceasefire, given the disturbing ease with which the Kremlin had broken such pacts before.
He was then attacked by Trump and Vance, who took turns belittling him, much to the dismay and outrage of Kyiv’s allies around the world. The Ukrainian president and his entourage were subsequently booted from the White House.
Many have speculated about whether the bruising clash was a trap laid by Trump’s camp. As part of his so-called America First agenda, Trump has long sought to portray Ukraine, and Zelenskyy personally, as leeching ungratefully off American largesse. The fiery interaction also played well with Trump’s supporters domestically.
Whatever the truth, it remains the starkest example to date of how American foreign policy has been upended in the Trump era, as well as how not to do diplomacy with Trump. Zelenskyy later called the meeting “regrettable,” which is somewhat of an understatement.
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Who: Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin
When: Mar. 12
How did it go? Ireland’s prime minister arrived at the White House just before St Patrick’s Day and was cheerfully greeted by JD Vance wearing shamrock socks, much to Trump’s delight.
From there, the conversation took on a sharper tone, with Trump lamenting the American companies that have set up shop in tax haven Dublin. “All of a sudden Ireland has our pharmaceutical companies, this beautiful island of 5 million people has got the entire U.S. pharmaceutical industry in its grasp,” he moaned.
But Martin pushed back, pointing out that there were hundreds of Irish companies in the U.S. and that Irish airlines were some of the world’s biggest purchasers of Boeing aircrafts.
When Trump mentioned that Martin’s father was a boxer, the Irish prime minister quipped that his dad was “a very good defensive boxer.” Otherwise, he often sat with a frozen, faintly bemused smile on his face.
All in all, Martin performed “well” in Trump’s ring, said Lynch, the American politics professor.
“He got a clever counterpunch in by describing his father as a defensive boxer — irony missed on Trump,” Lynch said, adding smaller countries such as Ireland need to “box clever” to outmaneuver Trump and secure their interests.
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***
Who: NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte
When: Mar. 13
How did it go? As prime minister of the Netherlands, Rutte was deemed the Trump whisperer for his ability to sweet-talk the president — something that’s likely to come in handy now he leads the NATO military alliance, which Trump has repeatedly threatened to yank Washington out of.
Rutte’s rapport with the president was on full display during their meeting, with the two men lavishing praise on each other, joking about deporting American drug dealers to the Netherlands and fondly reminiscing about Trump’s attendance at NATO summits in Brussels during his first term.
But not everyone was happy with the love-in.
As Trump restated his threats to take over Greenland and said Rutte “could be very instrumental” in making it happen, Rutte did not push back, saying, “I don’t want to drag NATO in that.”
Instead, he validated Trump’s concerns about Sino-Russian activities in the Arctic, which Trump has used as a justification for seizing Greenland, saying the president is “totally right” to be worried.
Of course, NATO is already involved whether Rutte likes it or not. Greenland is a Danish territory; Denmark is a founding member of the alliance. And Rutte’s failure to stick up for a NATO member facing an invasion threat did not go unnoticed in Copenhagen.
“We do not appreciate the Secr. Gen. of NATO joking with Trump about Greenland like this,” Rasmus Jarlov, chairman of Denmark’s parliamentary defense committee, posted on X after the meeting. “It would mean war between two NATO countries.”
Trump also tore into another NATO founder, Canada, reiterating his claim that America’s neighbor would be better off as a U.S. state. Once again, Rutte offered up no resistance, just meek silence, as the president raged against a member of the military alliance.
Rutte’s knack for appeasing Trump may have won him personal favor with the volatile Republican leader, but their bonhomie in the Oval Office also raises questions about Rutte’s commitment to NATO’s core principles — and his own.
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