Analysis & Opinions - The Washington Post

Trump’s Extraordinary 12-Day Adulation Tour

| Nov. 14, 2017

As President Trump ends his Asia trip, he might sum up the 12-day journey with a revision of the remark attributed to Julius Caesar: Veni, vidi, blandivi. I came, I saw, I flattered.

Trump’s trip was closer to a pilgrimage than a projection of power. The president rarely explained details of U.S. policy. Instead, he mostly asked other leaders for help, lauded their virtues and embraced their worldviews.

Along the adulation tour, Trump spoke of his “really extraordinary” relationship with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe; his “incredibly warm” feeling for Chinese President Xi Jinping, whom he called “a very special man”; his “great relationship” with the “very successful” Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte; and his empathy for Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose nation is “an asset to our country, not a liability.”

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For more information on this publication: Belfer Communications Office
For Academic Citation: Ignatius, David.“Trump’s Extraordinary 12-Day Adulation Tour.” The Washington Post, November 14, 2017.

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