Source: Politics<\/p>\n
NEW YORK \u2014 The European official looked terrified as I pointed outside the window at the gleaming black building a block away: Trump World Tower. \u201cWow. He\u2019s right there! He\u2019s literally looming over you!\u201d I said, genuinely astonished.<\/p>\n
Moments later, he moved my interview to a different room \u2014 one without the view of the Trump skyscraper.<\/p>\n
The move captured the sentiments of many people I ran into this week at the United Nations\u2019 annual gathering of world leaders in New York: The possibility of a second Donald Trump presidency hangs over them, and they\u2019re resigned to it the same way they are to encountering the Trump building as they walk across the street to the U.N. headquarters.<\/p>\n
They also don\u2019t want to talk about a potential Trump 2.0 on the record or much at all. And believe me, I tried. (\u201cBut how do you feel?\u201d I fruitlessly pleaded with one foreign minister.) Still, when granted anonymity, some were willing to discuss the possible changes in store, offering this increasingly desperate reporter a sense of the general mood.<\/p>\n
One thing that was clear: If the world can\u2019t have Biden or another Democrat who believes in multilateralism, alliances and the reality of a climate crisis, then it will be happy to settle for any Republican other than Trump. Nikki Haley, Trump\u2019s former ambassador to the United Nations, is a particular favorite.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf diplomats had to choose among the Republicans, they\u2019d pick Haley. But that\u2019s hope over reality,\u201d one European diplomat told me on the sidelines of the annual General Assembly gathering.<\/p>\n
Haley both endeared and alienated many at the United Nations.<\/p>\n
She was staunchly pro-Israel<\/a>, for example, which frustrated many countries that worry about the Palestinians. But Haley also sometimes emphasized humanitarian issues<\/a>, putting her at odds with Trump\u2019s overall thinking but in sync with many developing countries. (Many of Haley\u2019s U.N. moves, foreign diplomats note, seemed calculated to help her future in U.S. politics.)<\/p>\n But U.N. officials follow polls and recognize that Haley and other GOP contenders are far behind the former president, despite the multiple criminal indictments hanging over him. Whatever their preferences, the U.N. crowd is \u201cmore focused on a potential return of Trump,\u201d said one diplomat at the world body.<\/p>\n I also found that foreign officials are not ignorant of how a Trump return could undermine many international efforts of the last few years, even if they choose to stay publicly silent about it. (It is a standard talking point among diplomats that they do not discuss another country\u2019s internal politics \u2014 one I repeatedly dismissed as I grilled foreign officials.)<\/p>\n They already experienced Trump for four years, and they know he is steadfastly isolationist in some ways \u2014 for example, he\u2019s not a fan of massive multiparty trade deals. But he\u2019s also unpredictable because he\u2019s willing to do once unimaginable things: taking migrant children away from their parents, for instance.<\/p>\n \u201cWe won\u2019t be surprised by the fact that there are surprises,\u201d one Western European official predicted.<\/p>\n Some argued that world leaders are less apt to trust that Trump will come through for them given his track record of abandoning agreements and ignoring norms. \u201cYou can only get away with such stunts for so long,\u201d a Latin American official said.<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t mean foreign officials are going to start shifting their focus, strategizing and policymaking this soon in the U.S. campaign cycle. There\u2019s a perfectly good chance that Biden will be reelected, not to mention that some international leaders in power now won\u2019t be in 2025. So officials don\u2019t see much to gain from early planning or worrying.<\/p>\n Another problem, some diplomats say privately, is that if their countries make visible policy moves that indicate they are preparing for a Trump or other Republican presidency, that could upset Biden and his aides \u2014 the ones they need to work with right now. Even small moves \u2014 such as delaying certain talks with Biden \u2014 could be interpreted as attempts to influence U.S. politics.<\/p>\n Still, foreign embassies in Washington are \u2014 as is standard in diplomacy \u2014 establishing contacts with the GOP campaigns. Some governments also are going further to better understand the U.S. heartland that has propelled Trump and other right-wing Republicans to power.<\/p>\n This month, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock made a very public visit to Texas<\/a>, where she met with Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, a strident opponent of the Biden administration.<\/p>\n The biggest fear I heard among America\u2019s closest allies is that Trump will end U.S. military support for Ukraine as it fights off a brutal Russian invasion. He already was impeached \u2014 but not convicted \u2014 once due to his efforts to halt aid to Ukraine. He and Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin also appear to be mutual fans.<\/p>\n \u201cThe last kind of crisis like this was the Second World War,\u201d one European minister said of Ukraine when pressed on the potential return of Trump. \u201cIt is existential that we must respond \u2026 and the U.S. is playing a huge role here.\u201d<\/p>\n The minister expressed hope in the U.S. system in part because so many Republicans still support Ukraine. Other diplomats were quick to mention that even if Trump wins the presidency, control of Congress also matters.<\/p>\n Ukrainian officials are especially wary of talking about a Trump return.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been in this business for many years, and we\u2019ve learned the lesson that it is better to stay away from the internal politics of the United States,\u201d a senior Ukrainian official said. \u201cWe\u2019ll be working with the choice of the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n Let\u2019s not forget that Trump has some fans among world leaders beyond Putin.<\/p>\n Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n recently told far-right media personality Tucker Carlson that the only way to end Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine is to put Trump back in power.<\/p>\n