But behind the mocking, there is growing fear among international governments that Trump is a serious threat to international peace and stability.
He has no historical view. He is only dealing with these issues now, and seems to think the world started when he took office, a diplomat told BuzzFeed News, pointing to Trumps remarks and tweets about defence spending. He thinks that NATO existed only to keep the communists out of Europe. He has a similar attitude in Asia-Pacific with Japan, ignoring that the US basically wrote their constitution. During his presidential campaign, Trump called out Japan to pay more for the security US provides, including for hosting the US troops in the country. Japans constitution restricts its military options.
They also believe Trumps foreign policy is chiefly driven by an obsession with unravelling Barack Obamas policies. Its his only real position, one European diplomat said. He will ask: Did Obama approve this? And if the answer is affirmative, he will say: We dont. He wont even want to listen to the arguments or have a debate. He is obsessed with Obama.
Another diplomat said it had proved impossible to discuss serious international issues, such as Libya, with Trump. And seven months into his presidency, the European officials say they are still struggling to figure out who else they can engage with in the US administration.
Describing a meeting between their boss and the president as basically useless, they said: He [Trump] just bombed us with questions: How many people do you have? Whats your GDP? How much oil does [that country] produce? How many barrels a day? How much of it is yours?
Hes not the kind of person you can have a discussion about how to deal with [Fayez] al-Sarraj [the prime minister of Libya]," the official added. "So you look for people around him, and that is where its a problem: The constant upheaval, its unclear who has influence, who is close to the president."
A number of European officials compared Trump with Italian former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi but said the similarities end at their inappropriate jokes during meetings.
Berlusconi wasnt ignorant. And behind him he had officials and a whole government structure you could engage with, one diplomat said.
The officials revealed that at international meetings, Trump has openly mocked his own aides, contradicting and arguing with them in front of other leaders. That has compounded the impression of an administration in chaos. We can hear everything, its weird, one diplomat said.
