During his first term, President Donald Trump surprised a number of world leaders by offering his cell phone number, urging them to ditch the usual diplomatic protocols and simply call him up.
Trump’s affinity for frequent, often informal chit-chat is now a well-established aspect of his personality. And six months into his second term, world leaders, who want to remain in the president’s good graces, regularly call and text — sometimes to discuss matters of global import, sometimes just to schmooze.
“He’s talking to a lot of leaders way more than anyone realizes,” said one person familiar with the president’s calls. “A lot of the calls are about specific things, real business, but there’s also more informal, personal talk.”
Those leaders include French President Emmanuel Macron, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who Trump will meet for a round of golf in Scotland on Monday, according to the person and two others familiar with the calls. The three, like others in this story, were granted anonymity to discuss private talks.
The informality of these conversations, although hardly different from the off-the-cuff style Trump often showcases in public settings, can still be striking to aides listening on the other end of the line. A person familiar with one of the president’s conversations with Macron recalled the two leaders “bro-ing out” as they greeted one another.
“It was oddly amusing — Trump would say “Emmanuellllll” and really draw out the l and then Macron would go, ‘Donaldddddd’ and draw out the d,” they recalled. “And it sort of went back and forth.”
Foreign officials credit their ability to adapt to Trump’s freewheeling style to improved personal relationships, which, they say, is leading to more favorable outcomes.
One European official pointed to last month’s NATO leaders summit in The Netherlands where Trump announced that he’d changed his mind about the alliance after meeting with cohorts he lauded as “great leaders.” He told reporters that he was departing feeling “differently” and had determined that the cause of European security was “not a rip off.” And since then he has agreed to authorize more defense aid for Ukraine so long as Europe foots the bill.
“There’s less friction and more alignment in some cases,” said the European official. “Some of that is the result of a lot of leaders being more hands-on with Trump, and, yes, more solicitous in private.”
In the spring, after Mark Carney got elected largely on his promise to play hardball with Trump, Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) urged the Canadian prime minister to just call Trump directly to work things out.
“Donald Trump likes that,” Cramer said at the time. “He’s flattered by direct phone calls.”
In early March, Starmer used WhatsApp to message Trump as he sought to repair the breach between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following their disastrous Oval Office meeting.
The golfing trip to Scotland on Monday is “an opportunity for the PM to build personal rapport with Trump,” said one U.K. government adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Starmer, who colleagues describe as buttoned-up at work and personable in private, understands the importance of a personal relationship with Trump and worked hard with aides on showing the president his more relaxed side, according to two people with knowledge of his foreign policy strategy.
“They have a good relationship but this is where Starmer will need to shine in an informal setting,” said the government adviser. “He’s good with the formalities around him.”
The leaders’ private communication, however, is not a one way street. Trump, said one of the three people familiar with the calls, often initiates calls with bin Salman, Starmer and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Once, when Starmer was meeting with Trump’s special envoy to the United Kingdom, Mark Burnett, the former The Apprentice executive producer dialed up Trump and handed over the phone midway through their meal.
The conversation between the two leaders appeared informal, with a photo released by the U.S. Embassy showing Starmer chatting at the table while his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, Burnett and the embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission Matthew Palmer looked on.
And it wasn’t the only such instance. Starmer told journalists he took a late-night call from Trump in May midway through watching a football match to seal a tariff reduction deal.
“President Trump has great relationships with foreign leaders, which is why he has vastly outpaced his recent predecessors on bilateral visits at 23 meetings in just six months,” White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told POLITICO.
The spontaneity, like most engagements with the president, is largely on his terms. Finnish President Alexander Stubb, for example, flew to Florida to play a round of golf with Trump.
And when Trump screenshotted and posted an effusive series of text messages from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the eve of last month’s summit, crediting him for the alliance’s adoption of a new defense spending pledge, it served as a reminder to other heads of state who frequently text the president that their confidential conversations could become public.
During their in-person meetings at the White House, many leaders have tried to put the president at ease with flattery and deferential gestures, even gifts — South Africa’s president had two PGA golf pros tag along with him, while Starmer delivered a letter from King Charles III inviting Trump to a state dinner that will take place at Windsor Castle in September.
But the more frequent — and mostly undisclosed — phone and text conversations allow some leaders, keenly aware of the premium the president places on personal relationships, to build more chemistry with Trump.
Macron, one of the few world leaders who was in office during Trump’s first term, has been among the select few heads of state to disagree with Trump publicly, as he did during last month’s NATO summit where he groused about the U.S. tariffs on the European Union.
“There’s a comfort level because they’ve worked with one another for a while now, so it allows him to be more forceful at times,” said the person familiar with Macron’s calls. “But he also values the relationship they’ve established, mostly in their private conversations.”
On Friday when Trump was asked about Macron announcing that France will recognize Palestinian statehood amid Gaza’s continued bombardment by Israel, he shrugged it off. “He’s a very good guy, I like him,” Trump said of Macron. “But that statement doesn’t carry any weight.”
