Trump Has No Idea How to Do Diplomacy

Even when he’s partly right, he’s wrong.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and US President Donald Trump walk through the Cross Hall to the East Room on their way to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders at the White House in Washington, DC, on August 18, 2025. August 19, 2025, 10:20 AM Comment icon View Comments ( )

The combination of that weird summit in Alaska with Vladimir Putin and the only slightly less bizarre gathering of NATO leaders in Washington, was the latest reminder that U.S. President Donald Trump is a terrible negotiator, a true master of the “art of the giveaway.” He doesn’t prepare, doesn’t have subordinates lay the

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