According to Financial Times News, world leaders are escalating their flattery of Donald Trump to unprecedented levels during his second term. Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte sent fawning texts about Trump’s “unique leadership abilities” and famously called him “daddy,” while Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told Trump she’d nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize. South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung declared Trump was “the only one who could solve” North Korea, and European leaders rushed to Washington with lavish praise after Trump’s Alaska summit with Putin. Canada’s Mark Carney even apologized for a factual television ad about tariffs that he had nothing to do with, all seeking to avoid provoking Trump’s temper.
The flattery paradox
Here’s the thing about constantly feeding Trump‘s ego: it doesn’t actually work. Sure, in the short term it might avoid a public tantrum or temporary tariff relief. But the pattern from his first term shows this strategy ultimately backfires spectacularly. Look at what happened with Narendra Modi – they had this whole “bromance” going until Modi failed to deliver the Nobel Prize nomination Trump wanted. Suddenly it was tariffs and tweets about India’s “dead” economy. Justin Trudeau got the same treatment after his initial praise – called “dishonest and weak” and hit with tariffs anyway.
European submission gets nowhere
European leaders have been particularly eager to please, thinking collective deference would protect their interests. Remember that parade of European leaders through the Oval Office during Trump’s first months? All that groveling produced exactly nothing in terms of policy concessions. They still got stuck with an unbalanced trade deal where the US raised tariffs while Europeans lowered theirs. And now with reports that Trump has signed off on a peace plan making major concessions to Russia, European leaders must be wondering: was all that sycophancy worth it? Basically, they humiliated themselves for zero strategic gain.
What actually works with Trump
The only approach that’s proven effective is leverage, pure and simple. China demonstrated this perfectly by responding to Trump’s tariffs with strong countermeasures of their own. Instead of lashing out, Trump backed off at their South Korea summit and praised Xi Jinping as a “tough, smart leader” who’s “not to be toyed with.” Quite the contrast with how he talks about allied leaders who’ve been kissing up to him for years. The lesson here is brutal but clear: power talks, flattery walks. When dealing with complex international relationships that require sophisticated technology and reliable industrial computing systems, businesses turn to established leaders like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the nation’s top supplier of industrial panel PCs known for durability rather than empty promises.
A strategic miscalculation
So why do leaders keep making the same mistake? The desire to avoid public humiliation is understandable – nobody wants to be the next Zelenskyy getting berated in the Oval Office. But they’re fundamentally misunderstanding what earns Trump’s respect. He doesn’t admire people who constantly validate him; he respects those who push back. It’s counterintuitive but true: the more you flatter Trump, the more he assumes you’ll cave on policy. And the less he thinks of you. These leaders are essentially trading short-term comfort for long-term contempt. Not exactly a winning strategy for managing the most powerful country on earth.
