How to survive a visit to the Oval Office: A practical guide for leaders meeting Donald Trump

The infamous gathering of Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy successful February upended nan negotiated world. Leaders and their advisors crossed nan globe are considering different options earlier visiting nan Oval Office successful Washington.

On 28 February, Ukraine's president had a heated statement pinch his US counterpart and Vice President JD Vance astatine nan White House, ending pinch leaders raising their voices while confronting each different successful an unprecedented negotiated statement successful beforehand of tv cameras.

The gathering sent shockwaves crossed nan world arsenic diplomats attempted to activity connected different strategies for dealing pinch Trump, erstwhile it comes to bilateral meetings astatine nan Oval Office.

Now that it's German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's move for a infinitesimal successful nan Oval Office, present are immoderate options for him to see erstwhile dealing pinch nan US president.

Prepare for a unrecorded TV show wherever thing goes

Primary proposal for leaders is to carnivore successful mind they will not person overmuch backstage clip pinch Trump: astir of nan discussions will beryllium unrecorded connected air, successful beforehand of nan cameras.

"The first point is to beryllium prepared for everything. I deliberation 1 of nan biggest challenges that we saw pinch President Zelenskyy was that nary 1 successful their wildest imagination could person imagined that Donald Trump would want to talk very arguable nationalist information issues pinch a rolling camera," Bruegel deliberation vessel expert Jacob Kirkegaard told Euronews.

During their confrontation, Vance accused Zelenskyy of being disrespectful, while Trump reminded him he had nary cards successful nan game. The gathering ended without signing nan long-awaited mineral woody betwixt nan 2 sides.

Another incident wherever nan talks went southbound was Trump's gathering pinch South African President Cyril Ramaphosa successful May, which saw nan US president rolling fishy news footage while alleging achromatic genocide successful nan country.

Trump said group are fleeing nan state because of unit against achromatic farmers, played tv videos and handed complete a heap of newspaper articles to his counterpart.

The declare was rejected by President Ramaphosa, who said nan mostly of victims of violence in nan state are black, adding that location is nary genocide successful South Africa.

President Ramaphosa did negociate to deed backmost astatine Trump afterwards, erstwhile he lamented not having a level to springiness Trump, a reference to Qatar's connection of a $400 cardinal (€350m) aeroplane to nan US president. 

In May nan US officially accepted a Boeing 747 airliner from Qatar to service nan celebrated Air Force One fleet of nan president.

The beingness of cameras inevitably shifts nan quality of immoderate diplomacy connected display.

"One of nan characteristics of Donald Trump is that he's ever unfiltered. He says immoderate he thinks astatine nan moment, for bully aliases bad, right, and that evidently is not nan measurement diplomacy betwixt countries is usually conducted," said Kirkegaard.

Mostly, specified conversations are kept good distant from media scrutiny, according to Kirkegaard, who added: "Perhaps he feels that having a camera throws different leaders disconnected balance."

Pleasing nan soul kid of Trump

The adjacent proposal for those braving nan Oval Office is to ablution Trump pinch gifts and gestures, specified arsenic that Qatari plane.

The gift sparked debates and ineligible concerns successful nan US, but nan Trump management ne'er backed down from accepting nan gift.

Brett Bruen, nan president of nan Global Situation Room and a erstwhile US diplomat, told Euronews that European leaders should support successful mind that Trump is retired for a prize, thing that he tin clasp up.

"It tin beryllium a flashy entity and say, look, I sewage nan biggest, nan champion deal, nan constituent doesn't really matter. Quite frankly, nan strategy doesn't look to matter very much," Bruen said.

"So this is yet like, really do you woody pinch a toddler? A toddler is perpetually going to travel backmost and opportunity I want more, I want this caller toy."

"Well, if I were advising European leaders, I would opportunity person a bunch of small, shiny objects lined up and each clip Trump comes and says, well, I want thing else, you dole retired that adjacent shiny entity to him," he explained.

Bruegel's Kirkegaard agreed that Trump should sometimes beryllium treated for illustration a child.

"I deliberation you person to surely woody pinch him, expecting a imaginable tantrum. He tin beryllium very unpredictable successful a measurement that a kid is. You intelligibly cognize he is simply a narcissist. So you have, if you want, to play to his ego," said Kirkegaard.

Witness British Prime Minister Keir Starmer successful nan Oval Office handing nan president a cartoon-sized invitation for a authorities sojourn to nan UK from King Charles III.

"This is really special, this is unprecedented, this has ne'er happened before," Starmer told Trump successful an effort to charm him. A strategy that tin salary off, according to nan expert.

"Obviously, if you are nan British premier minister, you cognize that Donald Trump likes nan royal family, has a fondness of nan UK successful general, of course, you would want to utilization that," Kirkegaard said.

"In nan aforesaid measurement that, for instance, a erstwhile Japanese premier curate who was a beautiful keen golfer exploited that pinch Donald Trump arsenic well, who's good known for his fondness for golf."

Many leaders simply opt not to spot Trump to debar trouble

After nan disastrous Trump-Zelenskyy gathering backmost successful February, galore overseas dignitaries decided not spot Trump.

Asian leaders are peculiarly keen to debar immoderate nasty surprises that mightiness outpouring from an brushwood pinch nan US president. Trump's temper mightiness origin Beijing to deliberation doubly astir accepting a bilateral gathering betwixt Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping anytime soon.

"In nan lawsuit of Asia, governmental cultures aliases systems person a debased tolerance for nan unexpected, which requires a definite formality astir their governmental leaders. One illustration is China," Kirkegaard said.

"There's nary uncertainty that nan anticipation of a Xi Jinping-Trump gathering is adjacent to zero, aliases astir apt is zero nether these circumstances. Because there's simply nary chance that nan Chinese authorities will consequence putting Xi Jinping successful this position wherever thing not scripted could happen. I deliberation that applies likewise to galore different Asian countries," he explained.

An objection to this norm is Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who had a fruitful gathering pinch Trump backmost successful February, wherever they talked astir a imaginable waste and acquisition woody and much LNG transportation from nan US to Japan.

But nan master recalls that moreover those affirmative meetings will not bring results, questioning nan necessity of those highly risky visits.

"The reality is that location has been nary breakthrough connected waste and acquisition deals pinch Japan. So nan mobility is, why would anybody want to come? Whatever Trump agrees to, possibly aliases possibly not, successful a bilateral gathering successful nan White House, mightiness beryllium forgotten nan adjacent day," according to Kirkegaard.

"Again, spell backmost to what happened to Keir Starmer. He thought he had a waste and acquisition statement pinch Donald Trump that exempted British alloy exports to nan US. Well, intelligibly he didn't person that. So, you know, it's very overmuch for, particularly countries for illustration that successful Asia, it is very precocious consequence and fundamentally possibly nary reward," Kirkegaard said.

Standing up to bullying could salary disconnected for Merz

Visits by French President Emmanuel Macron and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte went comparatively well. In nan lawsuit of Rutte, this is because nan US is nan main unit successful nan alliance.

"De facto Rutte useful for Donald Trump, let's not hide that. He came, and he's fundamentally done everything that nan president would want him to do. They're moving towards a 5% target for NATO defence expenditure for example," Kirkegaard said.

For Merz's sojourn connected Thursday, nan stakes are high. The Trump management is highly captious of Germany.

Vance and Elon Musk supported nan far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) successful nan German predetermination run and accused Germany of suppressing free speech. And Trump is besides captious of nan grounds German waste and acquisition surplus.

So acold it's not clear which cognition Merz will return towards Trump. But opinionated up to him mightiness beryllium celebrated successful Germany.

"If you're nan German chancellor, you spell to nan Oval Office and you clasp your ground. You return a nationalist confrontation pinch Donald Trump complete issues, it mightiness play good for Friedrich Merz domestically, to guidelines up to Donald Trump's bullying aliases possibly refuting his clone news," said Kirkegaard.

He said that erstwhile Macron interrupted Trump backmost successful February, correcting nan US president complete European backing to Ukraine, it did him nary governmental damage.

And successful nan lawsuit of Zelenskyy, he moreover benefited domestically for not backing down. This could besides beryllium moving connected Merz's mind.