Trump Ranks Modi and Xi Among World Leaders He Admires

Returning from a G7 summit in France that he described as a dominant performance, Trump deflected questions regarding which global leaders he viewed as weak. He shifted the focus to the historical weight of his own office, citing a document he recently shared on Truth Social. This text, which compares his authority to figures like Napoleon and Genghis Khan, asserts that his global reach makes him the most powerful individual in history. Authors Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan reveal in their book, Regime Change, that the document was actually drafted by a caddy for golfer Gary Player rather than a presidential historian.

Throughout the discussion, Trump framed international diplomacy through the lens of personal leverage. He claimed that other G7 leaders accepted his humor about being the boss and asserted that Israel’s survival depends entirely on his intervention. Regarding Benjamin Netanyahu, he noted a functional relationship while suggesting a need to keep the Israeli leader sane. His approach to dissent remains uncompromising; he dismissed former Republican allies who criticized his Iran policy as hardliners, framing his administration’s outcomes as a victory of unconditional surrender.