The Guardian view on Trumpian diplomacy: not up to much | Editorial

Just over halfway through his first foreign trip as US president this week, Donald Trump tweeted a typically modest assessment of his progress: “Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Middle East were great. Trying hard for PEACE. Doing well.”

In a Trumpian context, that is perhaps closer to the mark than is usual for his pronouncements. The photo opportunities and soundbites have been a useful distraction from domestic woes: first, the mounting questions over his campaign’s relations with Russia. Second, a budget which is extreme and punitive towards poorer Americans and marked out by its highly questionable accounting. On the initial leg of his trip he avoided terrible errors – partly by avoiding press conferences – though his verdict on the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem (“so amazing”) was grotesque. He replaced his vicious portrayal of Islam as a religion of hatred with a tribute to “one of the world’s great faiths”.

Those are crumbs. The applause from the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Israel does not indicate success: it shows he gave them everything they wanted. In Riyadh, he urged Arab leaders to combat terrorist groups and cut off funding – but did not make US support conditional, and portrayed Saudi Arabia as an uncomplicated partner against extremism (it is just a year since the official 9/11 report’s section on the government’s alleged ties to the hijackers was finally released). He praised “strong action against Houthi militants in Yemen” and even commended Riyadh for providing aid to the people – so many of whom have died in Saudi-led strikes, often against civilian sites.

In exchange for a gargantuan $110bn arms deal (facilitating further devastation in Yemen) from a country cutting wages, Mr Trump offered unstinting support against its great rival, Iran. There was not a whisper of criticism over state abuses in an autocracy with a shocking record of intolerance; instead, a lengthy attack on Tehran, including over human rights. The hypocrisy was all the more glaring coming days after 40 million Iranians voted for their president; and all the more misjudged given their overwhelming support for the moderate Hassan Rouhani.

Benjamin Netanyahu has enjoyed this tour too. Mr Trump pressed the case for peace with the Israeli prime minister – but without demanding any concession. He visited Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority. His embrace of the Saudis may mean US support for reviving the Arab Peace Initiative. But mostly there were platitudes and sweeping assertions. This is the man who blithely pronounced Middle East peace “not as difficult as people have thought”.

The next leg of the tour already looks less celebratory. Though Mr Trump gushed about the great honour of meeting Pope Francis, the pontiff showed a certain froideur and pointedly offered his guest his encyclical on climate change. Tomorrow’s Nato dinner is likely to see disagreements over contributions; then come G7 talks. US allies are torn between anxiety at the vacuum created when America steps back from its lead in international affairs, and concern when Mr Trump takes an interest, given his ignorance and inconsistencies.

His unfitness to handle international affairs is underscored by the emergence of a transcript of his phone call with Rodrigo Duterte, the strongman president of the Philippines. It records him praising a drugs crackdown which has seen thousands of extrajudicial killings, and revealing that the US had sent nuclear submarines to waters off the Korean peninsula – raising further questions about his handling of sensitive information. He is a man who laps up the sword dances and red carpets, but has no ability to understand a complicated world, still less engage with it effectively. The optics of this trip may be better than anticipated, but the image of him handling the glowing orb in Riyadh was unintentionally telling. There is very little behind the bright lights; and what is there isn’t good.