WASHINGTON: For world leaders an invitation to the Oval Office used to be a coveted prize. Under Donald Trump it\u2019s become a ticket to a brutal political ambush.
\nSouth African President Cyril Ramaphosa became the latest victim in a long line that started with Trump\u2019s notorious row with Ukraine\u2019s Volodymyr Zelensky in February.
\nTrump has turned what were staid diplomatic \u201cphoto sprays\u201d under his predecessor Joe Biden into punishing, hour-long tests of nerve in the heart of the US presidency, played out on live television.<\/p>\n
The sight has become all too familiar \u2014 a world leader perched nervously on the edge of their gold-upholstered chair in front of the famed fireplace, waiting to see what happens.
\nWill the 78-year-old Republican lay on the charm? Will he show off the new gold-plated decor he has been proudly installing in the Oval? Will he challenge his guest on tariffs or trade or US military assistance?
\nOr will he simply tear into them?
\nNobody knows before they get there. All they know is that when the cameras are allowed into the most exclusive room in the White House, they will be treading the most perilous of political tightropes.
\nAnd the hot, confined space of the Oval Office adds to the pressure-cooker environment as the unpredictable billionaire seeks to wrongfoot his guests and gain the upper hand.<\/p>\n
Trump set the benchmark when he hosted Zelensky on February 28.
\nTensions over Trump\u2019s sudden pivot toward Russia spilled into the open as a red-faced US president berated the Ukrainian leader and accused him of being ungrateful for US military aid against Russia.<\/p>\n
Many wondered if it was a deliberate ambush \u2014 especially as Vice President JD Vance appeared to step in to trigger the row.
\nWhether or not it was on purpose, the goal in foreign capitals ever since has been to \u201cavoid a Zelensky.\u201d
\nBut Ramaphosa\u2019s visit to the Oval on Wednesday was the closest yet to a repeat \u2014 and this time it was clearly planned.
\nRamaphosa arrived with top South African golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen in tow, hoping to take the edge off the golf-mad Trump\u2019s unfounded claims of a \u201cgenocide\u201d against white South African farmers.
\nBut his face was a picture of bemusement when after a question on the issue, Trump suddenly said to aides and said: \u201cTurn the lights down, and just put this on.\u201d
\nA video of South African politicians chanting \u201ckill the farmer\u201d began to play on a screen set up at the side of the room. A stunned Ramaphosa looked at the screen, then at Trump, and then back at the screen.
\nYet unlike Zelensky, who argued back with an increasingly enraged Trump, the South African president largely stayed calm as he argued his case.
\nNor was he asked to leave the White House as Zelensky was, causing the Ukrainian to miss lunch.<\/p>\n
Other leaders have also done their homework. Some have emerged mostly unscathed, or even with some credit.
\nCanadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, despite some nervous body language, stood his ground against Trump\u2019s calls for his country to become the 51st US state and insisted that his country was \u201cnever for sale.\u201d
\nBritish Prime Minister Keir Starmer won over Trump with a letter from King Charles III, while French President Emmanuel Macron kept up his touch-feely bromance with the US president.
\nTrump\u2019s ideological allies have often fared even better. El Salvador\u2019s Nayib Bukele had a major Oval Office love-fest after agreeing to take migrants at a mega-prison in the Central American country.
\nBut even some close allies have been wrongfooted.
\nIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a warm welcome as the first foreign guest of Trump\u2019s second term, but it was a different story when he returned in April.<\/p>\n
Cameras in the Oval Office caught his stunned face when Trump announced that Washington was starting direct talks with Iran.
\nFor Trump, though, it\u2019s all part of a presidency that he increasingly treats like a reality show.
\nTrump himself quipped after the Zelensky meeting that it was \u201cgoing to be great television,\u201d and one of his advisers was just as explicit after the Ramaphosa meeting.
\n\u201cThis is literally being watched globally right now,\u201d Jason Miller said on X, along with a picture of the encounter on multiple screens. \u201cRatings GOLD!\u201c<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON: For world leaders an invitation to the Oval Office used to be a coveted prize. Under Donald Trump it\u2019s become a ticket to a brutal political ambush. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa became the latest victim in a long line that started with Trump\u2019s notorious row with Ukraine\u2019s Volodymyr Zelensky in February. Trump has …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":81387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81379"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81398,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81379\/revisions\/81398"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}