Trump Violates Diplomacy’s Golden Rule
During a testy joint press conference at the NATO summit in London yesterday, President Donald Trump and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, argued openly over how the 70-year-old alliance should handle Russia, the Islamic State, and Turkey. When interacting with allied leaders, Trump’s predecessors have generally followed a golden rule: Disagreements with friends are okay—but only behind the scenes, not in public. The on-camera spat with Macron was the latest sign that Trump has brought America’s most important security alliance to the point of crisis.
