Flattering Trump: Prime ‘flattery diplomacy’ shows of 2025

[ad_1] The lesson was realized early in Trump’s second time period when visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was publicly berated at a February 28 Oval Workplace assembly.

Learn extra Tensions boil over between Trump, Vance and Zelensky on the White Home

As Zelensky confronted a verbal lashing from his hosts for not “thanking” Trump sufficient, heads of state, multinational firms and worldwide establishments internationally took notice – and lots of responded by adopting baroque ranges of “flattery diplomacy” to take care of the US president.

Pomp, splendour and courtesy have lengthy greased diplomatic wheels. However with Trump this 12 months, it was taken to non-public – usually unimaginable – ranges that critics say crossed the road into servility and vassalage.

Listed below are a few of 2025's high moments of Trump reward:

FIFA 'Peace' Prize The prize by no means existed earlier than, however after Trump waged a confrontation towards the Democrat-led US cities chosen to host subsequent 12 months’s World Cup, FIFA President Gianni Infantino determined to behave. And the way.

Infantino, a Trump ally, tapped into the US president’s disappointment over being skipped for the Nobel Peace Prize and cooked up a brand new, made-to-order award. On a plinth emblazoned with an all-cap “Donald J. Trump”, a metallic globe perched atop 5 gnarled arms: the FIFA Peace Prize.

“That is your prize – that is your prize, your peace prize,” Infantino gushed as Trump beamed on the John F. Kennedy Middle stage.

Learn extra US President Donald Trump named first winner of FIFA Peace Prize

It didn’t finish there. “There may be additionally an attractive medal for you which you can put on in every single place you need to go,” Infantino continued as Trump plucked the shiny object up and promptly put it on, like a modern-day Napoleon crowning himself.

<img fetchpriority="low" src="https://s.france24.com/media/display/e629fad6-da92-11f0-aebc-005056a90284/w:980/fifa-embed.jpg" srcset="https://s.france24.com/media/display/e629fad6-da92-11f0-aebc-005056a90284/w:246/fifa-embed.jpg 246w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/e629fad6-da92-11f0-aebc-005056a90284/w:388/fifa-embed.jpg 388w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/e629fad6-da92-11f0-aebc-005056a90284/w:720/fifa-embed.jpg 720w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/e629fad6-da92-11f0-aebc-005056a90284/w:980/fifa-embed.jpg 980w" sizes="(max-width: 1023px) calc(100vw - 32px), (min-width: 1024px) 850px" alt="President Donald Trump is presented with the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize by FIFA President Gianni Infantino during the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw at the Kennedy Center, December 5, 2025." style="max-height:567px" loading="lazy" class="a-img "/> US President Donald Trump is offered the FIFA Peace Prize by FIFA President Gianni Infantino on December 5, 2025. © Evan Vucci, AP Qatar items a luxurious jet for Air Pressure One In a 12 months that noticed world leaders tripping over themselves to signal offers with the US, Qatar went the furthest, gifting Trump a luxurious Boeing valued at $400 million to replace Air Pressure One; his presidential plane.

The provide was first reported by US media on the eve of Trump’s Center East go to in Might to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Watch extra Pentagon accepts Boeing 747 from Qatar for Trump's use

The reward, the costliest – and controversial – ever obtained by a US president within the nation’s almost 250-year historical past, kicked up a storm, with Democrats warning about moral implications and legality and safety issues.

Trump nonetheless scoffed away the dismay, noting that Qatar's provide was a pleasant gesture that might be "silly" to show down.

Who's Rutte’s ‘Daddy’? With the Trump administration threatening to disengage from NATO, it was important to maintain the US president on board on the bloc’s 2025 summit in The Hague.

However NATO Secretary Common Mark Rutte went overboard.

In a personal message to Trump earlier than the summit, Rutte famous, “You're flying into one other large success in The Hague ... Europe goes to pay in a BIG manner, as they need to, and will probably be your win.”

Trump promptly posted Rutte’s message on his Fact Social platform, sparking cringes in lots of quarters.

However there was extra. At a June 25 joint press convention throughout the NATO summit, Trump was requested concerning the Israel-Iran battle, which was then raging.

The US president responded by likening the 2 international locations to "children in a schoolyard".

Rutte, in obsequious overdrive, couldn’t go away it at that. "Daddy has to generally use robust language to get them to cease," stated the top of the world’s strongest navy alliance.

<img fetchpriority="low" src="https://s.france24.com/media/display/a14d0370-da9e-11f0-8830-005056a97e36/w:980/Daddy.jpg" srcset="https://s.france24.com/media/display/a14d0370-da9e-11f0-8830-005056a97e36/w:246/Daddy.jpg 246w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/a14d0370-da9e-11f0-8830-005056a97e36/w:388/Daddy.jpg 388w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/a14d0370-da9e-11f0-8830-005056a97e36/w:720/Daddy.jpg 720w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/a14d0370-da9e-11f0-8830-005056a97e36/w:980/Daddy.jpg 980w" sizes="(max-width: 1023px) calc(100vw - 32px), (min-width: 1024px) 850px" alt="President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte as he arrives for a NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (Piroschka Van De Wouw, Pool" style="max-height:567px" loading="lazy" class="a-img "/> US President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary Common Mark Rutte at a gathering in The Hague on June 25, 2025. © Piroschka Van De Wouw, AP Because the “Daddy” quote grabbed headlines, Trump was requested if he views NATO allies as youngsters. "No, [Rutte] likes me,” the US president replied. “I feel he likes me. If he does not, I am going to let . I am going to come again and I am going to hit him onerous, OK? He did it very affectionately, 'Daddy, you are my Daddy.'"

Netanyahu arms Trump a Nobel nomination letter Trump’s obsession with profitable a Nobel Peace Prize noticed a variety of world leaders journey over themselves to appoint the US president for the prize his predecessor, former president Barack Obama, gained again in 2009.

None did it with as a lot flourish as Israeli Prime Benjamin Netanyahu. Earlier than a dinner on the White Home Blue Room in July, Netanyahu kicked off the proceedings with a monologue because the cameras rolled.

“I need to specific the appreciation and admiration not solely of all Israelis, however of the Jewish folks,” started Netanyahu. As US and Israeli groups beamed, the Israeli prime minister held up a letter. “I need to current to you, Mr. President, the letter I despatched to the Nobel prize committee,” stated Netanyahu.

“Oh,” stated Trump as he took the letter from Netanyahu.

“It’s nominating you for the Nobel Peace Prize, which is well-deserved,” defined Netanyahu. “I feel it's best to get it.”

<img fetchpriority="low" src="https://s.france24.com/media/display/986e842c-daa3-11f0-803b-005056a90284/w:980/Bibi-Trump-nobel.jpg" srcset="https://s.france24.com/media/display/986e842c-daa3-11f0-803b-005056a90284/w:246/Bibi-Trump-nobel.jpg 246w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/986e842c-daa3-11f0-803b-005056a90284/w:388/Bibi-Trump-nobel.jpg 388w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/986e842c-daa3-11f0-803b-005056a90284/w:720/Bibi-Trump-nobel.jpg 720w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/986e842c-daa3-11f0-803b-005056a90284/w:980/Bibi-Trump-nobel.jpg 980w" sizes="(max-width: 1023px) calc(100vw - 32px), (min-width: 1024px) 850px" alt="Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, hands President Donald Trump a folder during a meeting in the Blue Room of the White House, Monday, July 7, 2025, in Washington." style="max-height:567px" loading="lazy" class="a-img "/> Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arms US President Donald Trump his Nobel nomination letter on the White Home Blue Room on July 7, 2025. © Alex Brandon, AP The Nobel committee didn’t suppose so. The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Venezuelan opposition chief Maria Corina Machado.

Learn extra Venezuelan opposition chief Maria Corina Machado wins Nobel Peace Prize

King's letter for 'King Donald' Handing letters to the king turned a factor this 12 months. In February, “King Donald” – as some critics have dubbed Trump – obtained one from the actual McCoy. In a determined bid to take care of the US-UK “particular relationship”, Britain’s Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer ceremoniously handed Trump a state go to invitation from his sovereign, King Charles III.

At an Oval Workplace assembly, the cameras rolled with the praises. Reaching into his jacket breast pocket, Starmer extricated an envelope proclaiming, “It's my pleasure to convey from his majesty, the king, a letter.”

“Thanks very a lot,” stated Trump as he took the letter. And held it. Because the agonising seconds stretched, the courtroom held its breath. The way forward for Ukraine, Europe, the transatlantic alliance, world order hung within the steadiness.

“Am I purported to learn it now?” requested Trump, uncharacteristically deferential when handed an genuine royal object.

“Sure, please do,” Starmer replied.

<img fetchpriority="low" src="https://s.france24.com/media/display/9d2ee3ea-daac-11f0-aa23-005056a97e36/w:980/starmer-1.jpg" srcset="https://s.france24.com/media/display/9d2ee3ea-daac-11f0-aa23-005056a97e36/w:246/starmer-1.jpg 246w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/9d2ee3ea-daac-11f0-aa23-005056a97e36/w:388/starmer-1.jpg 388w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/9d2ee3ea-daac-11f0-aa23-005056a97e36/w:720/starmer-1.jpg 720w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/9d2ee3ea-daac-11f0-aa23-005056a97e36/w:980/starmer-1.jpg 980w" sizes="(max-width: 1023px) calc(100vw - 32px), (min-width: 1024px) 850px" alt="British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, left, hands an invitation from King Charles III for a second state visit to President Donald Trump at the White House, February 27, 2025." style="max-height:567px" loading="lazy" class="a-img "/> British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arms President Donald Trump an invite from King Charles III throughout a White Home assembly on February 27, 2025. © Carl Court docket, AP The seconds stretched once more as Trump silently learn the letter. It was left to Starmer to clarify that it was a “actually particular” invitation to an “unprecedented” second state go to.

Having admired the British monarch’s “stunning” signature, Trump accepted the invitation, sparking months of excruciating “Royal Family prepares for state go to” protection. A nine-minute royal household video even featured the frilly prep work by livery officers, cooks, gardeners, navy musicians and different employees.

They did their jobs. The go to in September came about with no royal hitch.

It was left to the British newspapers to look at if it was all definitely worth the glitz. In its editorial, The Guardian concluded that, “there was an inverse relationship between the pomp and ceremony of this journey and its actual import”.

The editorial nonetheless acknowledged that, “on the earth of President Trump, a diplomatic interplay that avoids the outright catastrophe of a public dressing down, or doubling of tariffs, is now thought to be a triumph by US allies”.