‘Falling in love’ with  Kim Jong Un, calling  Recep Tayyip Erdogan ‘a friend’ and praising Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump’s fondness for autocrats has baffled US allies and raised multiple questions about his regard for democratic norms. 

However, analysts expect America’s traditional friendships to be restored in a post-Trump era, stating that his fascination with unfettered power is a personality quirk that has not translated into an official change in foreign policy. Peter Trumbore, professor of political science at Oakland University in Michigan told AFP, “He’s psychologically terrified by weakness.”

This fondness of his for supreme power was on display long before he won the White House in 2016, on a promise to “make America great again.” In an interview with the Playboy magazine in 1990, he declared that Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who helped end the Cold War, had “not a firm enough hand” with pro-democracy demonstrators. Even after three decades, he continues to shower praises on leaders who showcase ruthless power while bashing longtime democratic allies such as Canada and Germany. 

In a recording, he can be heard telling journalist Bob Woodward the “tougher and meaner” they are, “the better I get along with them.” The Repulican candidate in 2017 had threatened dictator Kim Jong Un with “fire and fury” if “Little Rocket Man” endangered the US, but shook his hand in a historic visit to North Korea just two years later. 

Although Trump’s outreach to Kim had won plaudits, his assessment that the North Korean leader, who is accused of gross human rights violations, had a “great and beautiful vision for his country” was met with widespread backlash.

Even with China, Trump’s message has swung wildly, lurching between tough discussions on trade and the spread of COVID-19, to praise for Chinese President Xi Jinping after China’s ruling party abolished term limits in 2018. Trump declared, “He’s now president for life… I think it’s great.” 

Although many surmised the remark was made in jest it chimed with the warm words he has had for Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has also steadily increased his own powers and whom Trump calls a “friend,” it is the his relationship with Russia’s Vladimir Putin that has attracted the most attention. This has come in light of claims that Moscow meddled in the 2016 election to boost Trump’s chances, allegations denied by Russia all throughout.

In a 2018 summit with Putin, Trump appeared to be in awe of the Kremlin leader and even said he believed him over the FBI on the allegations of campaign interference describing his Russian counterpart as “very, very strong.”

According to Trumbore, Trump is “envious of the power these strongmen wield.” He said, “When he sees Erdogan or (Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor) Orban he sees democratically elected presidents who have essentially used institutions of democracy to turn their states into soft authoritarian regimes. I think Trump wants that for himself.”

Charles Kupchan, professor of international affairs at Georgetown University had a similar belief. He said, “He probably likes that Putin rides a horse without a shirt on and appears like a ‘real man’.”

Although his administration has argued that Trump has made America safer by cultivating ties with longtime foes, analysts say his approach has yet to show results. According to Maud Quessard, a US specialist at the Institute for Strategic Research in Paris, Trump’s message is chiefly aimed at “showing his electorate that he is a strong president.”

Kupchan added, “Diplomatic breakthroughs do not come when two leaders sit down together with no preparation. They come through years of hard work and preparation. With North Korea, none of that happened. It went nowhere.”

His cheering of Britain’s decision to quit the EU and claiming the union was created merely “to take advantage of the United States” has hampered relations with old allies in continental Europe. Brooks Spector, a former US diplomat based in South Africa says that a second Trump would cause great confusion on the international stage.

He said, “What are the goals of the US policy? What are the expectations? What does the US realistically expect from Iran, Russia, with its trade disputes with China? There’s a lot of head scratching in world capitals about what exactly the US wants to see happen. People look for the strategy or tactics and they don’t seem to find it very easily.”