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Praising his golf game. Nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Calling him “daddy.”
International politicians coming face-to-face with President Donald Trump have leaned into a new tactic for currying favor during his second term: flattery.
The nominations and praise for the president aren’t coincidental, especially after Trump triggered global leaders’ agita through much of his first term. Foreign heads of state have learned that one of, if not the best ways to secure U.S. good fortune in the Trump era is to stroke its leader’s ego.
“Foreign leaders who have tried to confront him have not come out happy, and so there seems to be a competition to see how effectively they can flatter him,” said Jon Alterman, chair of global security and geostrategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
There’s a long history of international adulation being a key part of diplomacy; it is customary for foreign dignitaries to exchange gifts after meeting with their international counterparts. But Alterman said foreign leaders are using the president’s desire to be seen as “a genuinely historic figure” to “advance their narrow interests” with the U.S.
Each of these nations have their own priorities. For some, it may be about avoiding the crushing American tariffs looming over many countries. Others hope Trump will use his considerable influence to help resolve conflicts in their regions. But whatever the reason, the strategy to achieve their interests through diplomacy has become clear.
That was on full display this week, when African leaders at the White House said Wednesday that Trump “deserves” a Nobel Peace Prize. Israeli and Pakistani leaders took it one step further, each nominating the president for the 2026 prize.
“President Trump’s vision and bold leadership promoted innovative diplomacy defined not by conflict and extremism but by cooperation, dialogue and shared prosperity,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote in the nomination letter, which he publicly shared with Trump at a White House dinner.
Trump has repeatedly indicated he wants to win the Nobel Peace Prize, lamenting that if he were “named Obama” he would have been awarded it “in 10 seconds.”
“I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize no matter what I do, including Russia/Ukraine, and Israel/Iran, whatever those outcomes may be, but the people know, and that’s all that matters to me,” he wrote in a Truth Social post in June.
Trump said in his inaugural address his “proudest legacy’ will be “that of a peacemaker and unifier.”
White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement Trump has a “proven record of securing peace around the world,” crediting him with brokering a ceasefire deal between Iran and Israel, arranging a peace deal between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and deescalating brewing conflict between India and Pakistan.
“Meanwhile, his diplomacy has delivered tangible results — NATO allies have made a historic five percent defense spending pledge, El Salvador is holding illegal alien terrorists in their prisons, and Gulf nations have made massive investments into the U.S. economy,” Kelly said. “Thanks to this President’s leadership, America is respected again, making the entire world safer and more prosperous.”
One recent appeal comes from Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who told POLITICO that if Trump and allies ensure Belarus is not handed to Russia as part of negotiations in Ukraine, it could be his “foreign policy success story.”
And world leaders’ plans have stretched far beyond just pumping up Trump’s international dealmaking legacy. It has focused on the personal, too.
Using a slang term connoting dominance and strength, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called Trump “daddy” at a NATO summit, later doubling down after shocked reactions by telling The New York Times Trump “deserves all the praise.”
“I think he likes me,” Trump said of Rutte.
Other leaders have played into Trump’s love for golf. Finnish President Alexander Stubb made an unannounced visit to Florida in March, where the pair visited Mar-a-Lago and played golf. Senegal President Bassirou Diomaye Faye called the president a “tremendous” player at the White House Thursday.
“Golf requires concentration and precision, qualities that also make for a great leader,” he said.
Trump’s personal relationship with other global leaders have shifted his position on international incidents, most recently with Ukraine and Russia.
In February, after Trump blamed Ukraine for starting the war, POLITICO reported that Trump administration insiders advised that “they had to learn the hard way that criticizing Trump publicly is just going to backfire in a big way.”
Trump spoke with Zelenskyy last week, and the Ukrainian president seemed to take the advice, saying he was “grateful for the readiness to assist.”
But an interpersonal connection can only go so far, as Trump himself acknowledged earlier this week.
“We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us from [Vladimir] Putin, if you want to know the truth,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday. “He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”
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