Trump uses Oval Office as televised forum for meetings with world leaders

During the first year of his second term, President Trump used the Oval Office in Washington as a kind of reality-show stage, meeting with more than 40 international leaders with cameras rolling and lengthy exchanges in front of the press. The meetings, held in an Oval Office the president has redecorated in gold, ranged from dressing down President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to playing what he said was video evidence of persecution for President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa.

Mr. Trump said of one such encounter, “This is going to be great television,” and in another cut off a reporter asking about the killing of Jamal Khashoggi as he defended Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He has also partnered with leaders such as President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador, including deporting Venezuelan migrants to a Salvadoran prison — a move that the report said included a wrongful deportation neither president claimed the power to fix.

The White House said Mr. Trump hosted 45 meetings with 46 foreign leaders in the year, including multiple visits from Benjamin Netanyahu, Mark Rutte and Mr. Zelensky. World leaders frequently arrived with gifts or flattery — a framed copy of Mr. Trump’s grandfather’s birth certificate from Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a gold-plated pager from Mr.

Netanyahu and, last week, María Corina Machado presenting her Nobel Peace Prize medal — and some meetings produced trade deals or lower tariffs while others simply helped leaders avoid U.S. wrath.

Key Topics

Politics, Donald Trump, Oval Office, Volodymyr Zelensky, Benjamin Netanyahu, Mohammed Bin Salman