Marek Magierowski
President Donald Trump, undeniably, has a soft spot for strong leaders. Oftentimes, one gets the impression this is the sole yardstick he applies to foreign heads of state when evaluating their political status and their usefulness to America’s key international goals, regardless of actual clout or diplomatic skills of a particular interlocutor.
Thus, Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, and El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele get special treatment from the White House. The US president gets along well with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. Likewise, Benjamin Netanyahu and Viktor Orbán can also bank on Donald Trump’s sympathy and understanding. Ahmed al-Shara, the new Syrian ruler and a former terrorist, was received in the White House a few weeks ago, heaped with praise and characterized as a “tough guy.” Even Kim Jong-un, the North Korean tyrant, was rewarded with some warm comments from Trump himself: “I had a very good relationship with Kim.”
Let’s move the spotlight to Europe now: any strongmen, tough leaders, apart from the above-mentioned prime minister of Hungary? Ursula von der Leyen and Kaja Kallas certainly do not meet the criteria. Does France’s Emmanuel Macron? Well, he is just a “nice guy.” Does chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany? Not necessarily. The Italian premier Giorgia Meloni is closest to this perception, however, probably not authoritarian enough for Trump’s taste. The Finnish president Alexander Stubb has been in the headlines lately as the only European politician who has the command of the US president’s psyche. Still, he is just “another nice guy,” and, additionally, a fine golfer.
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