What Trump’s choice of venue says about invite to Philippine, Singaporean leaders
US president has invited Duterte, Lee Hsien Loong and Thailand’s Prayuth Chan-ocha to the White House. His meetings with other leaders suggest they might have been better off in Mar-a-Lago
Foreign policy is made as much by style as substance. That is why the locations of summits are almost as important as the events themselves.
But for German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Theresa May, the meetings were confined to the White House, with the obligatory press conferences that Trump so dreads – and the difference is telling.
At Mar-A-Lago, Trump is in his element, playing the warm host. At the White House, he is grumpy and distant. At Mar-A-Lago, he exulted over a gold-plated golf club gifted by Abe and lavished praise on the Chinese first lady. At the White House he refused to shake hands with Merkel (twice).
While Trump has invited controversy by extending a White House invitation to the leaders of the Philippines and Thailand, one must not forget that Trump’s preferred locale is Mar-a-Lago, otherwise known as the “Southern White House”. Also included in the “packaged invitation” was Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
