{"id":200144,"date":"2025-10-14T19:55:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T19:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/200144\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T19:55:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T19:55:09","slug":"i-am-the-only-one-that-matters-trump-deals-praise-and-insults-at-gaza-summit-donald-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/200144\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I am the only one that matters\u2019: Trump deals praise and insults at Gaza summit | Donald Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

The chief interest at Monday\u2019s largely pointless Gaza summit in Sharm el-Sheikh lay in whether Donald Trump<\/a> insulted or feted his fellow global leaders as they approached the self-styled world\u2019s greatest peacemaker to shake hands and pose for a thumbs-up photograph.<\/p>\n

As the host of the party, the US president had arrived \u2013 unapologetically \u2013 more than two hours late, musing to the Israeli parliament before boarding his flight from Tel Aviv that he feared his wealthy guests would already have left, leaving him with only two poor countries remaining.<\/p>\n

He need not have worried. First up on the stage to be greeted by Trump was Sheikh Mansour<\/a> bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the vice-president of the United Arab Emirates. A beaming Trump pointed out Mansour\u2019s \u201clovely shoes\u201d, then pointed at him, saying: \u201cA lot of cash, bundles of cash.\u201d The Manchester City owner attempted to beam back happily at this self-evident truth.<\/p>\n

\u2018Bundles of cash\u2019: Trump and Sheikh Mansour. Photograph: Getty Images<\/p>\n

Another to find favour with the Sun King was Giorgia Meloni<\/a>, the only woman gatecrashing an otherwise male-only event. Trump turned to the Italian prime minister, saying: \u201cIn the United States, it would be the end of your political career. But I\u2019ll take the risk. Do you mind if I say you\u2019re beautiful? Because you truly are beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

The unqualified compliment stood in contrast to Meloni\u2019s earlier interaction with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan<\/a>, who also told her she looked \u201cgreat\u201d, before adding: \u201cBut you should not smoke so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Truly beautiful\u2019: Trump and Meloni. Photograph: Evan Vucci\/AP<\/p>\n

Trump had a lot of praise for the Turkish leader, since he was a \u201ctough\u201d guy. The short Trump biography of Erdo\u011fan gave the impression that we were in the presence of a blend of Genghis Khan and Greta Garbo. \u201cErdo\u011fan possesses one of the strongest armies in the world,\u201d Trump opined. \u201cIt is much stronger than it appears. He has triumphed in many conflicts, but he does not want any praise. He wants to be left alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is a tough person, but he is my friend, and he is always there when I need him. When Nato faces problems with him, they call me. I speak with Erdo\u011fan, and he never lets me down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another tough guy to receive Trump\u2019s seal of approval was the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi<\/a> \u2013 nominally his co-host. Sitting down alongside Sisi, oblivious to his outstretched hand, Trump delivered his verdict on a man whose government stands accused of wholesale repression. \u201cI am here with my friend, a strong leader, the president \u2026 and also a general, and he is good at both,\u201d Trump said. \u201cThey have a low crime rate here, unlike the United States, where we have a high crime rate because we have state governors who don\u2019t know what they\u2019re doing \u2026 but here in Egypt, they don\u2019t mess around when it comes to crime.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018He is a tough person, but he is my friend\u2019: Trump and Erdo\u011fan. Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett\/PA<\/p>\n

The Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orb\u00e1n, who had made the guest list for no ostensible reason save his detestation of the EU, was also blessed. Trump said he liked Viktor, rolling the \u201cr\u201d to effect and adding: \u201cI know a lot of people don\u2019t agree with me, but I am the only one that matters.\u201d Trump\u2019s fellow world leaders behind him, including Keir Starmer<\/a>, looked a little upset at another self-evident truth.<\/p>\n

Less fortunate was the Iraqi prime minister, Mohammed Shia\u2019 al-Sudani. Trump described his country as one \u201cwith so much oil it does not know what to do with it. That is a big problem if you have so much oil you don\u2019t know what to do with it.\u201d And with this aper\u00e7u, Sudani was dispatched.<\/p>\n

\u2018So much oil\u2019: Trump and Sudani. Photograph: Getty Images<\/p>\n

Suddenly it was Starmer\u2019s moment to shine. Trump asked: where is the UK representative? Starmer raised his hand, adding: \u201cRight behind you as usual,\u201d before being asked to step forward to the rostrum. Expecting to say a few words, he was instead thanked for turning up at short notice and directed by Trump to return to the UK\u2019s natural place, in the dark shadow behind the Great Man.<\/p>\n

Another European leader to suffer was Emmanuel Macron<\/a>. Aware of the French president\u2019s ability to appear in summit photography, Trump was taken aback when he discovered Macron had chosen to sit facing him in the audience rather than joining him on the stage. \u201cI can\u2019t believe it, you\u2019re taking a low-key approach today,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI imagined you standing behind me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump and Macron. Photograph: Yoan Valat\/EPA<\/p>\n

The Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney<\/a>, deigned to approach Trump to point out that in his remarks about Canada, Trump had promoted Carney to the post of president. \u201cAt least I didn\u2019t say governor,\u201d Trump shot back.<\/p>\n

The one man who seemed to know how to handle the host was the Pakistani prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif. Sharif showered Trump with so much praise that Trump stepped forward to try to read the text of his speech, only to be pushed back forcibly by Sharif as he continued his paean.<\/p>\n

Shehbaz Sharif (right) showered Trump with praise. Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cIndia and Pakistan are nuclear powers, and had it not been for his and his wonderful team\u2019s intervention during those critical four days, a devastating war might have erupted,\u201d Sharif said. \u201cWho would have survived to tell the tale? History has immortalised his name in golden letters. May God bless you and grant you a long life to continue serving your country and nation with this great spirit.\u201d And so on.<\/p>\n

One leader who may have been breathing a sigh of relief is the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, who sought to protect his dignity by turning down the invitation altogether.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The chief interest at Monday\u2019s largely pointless Gaza summit in Sharm el-Sheikh lay in whether Donald Trump insulted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":200145,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-200144","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}