How to Lose Friends and Infuriate People

We know that Trump himself is no diplomat. He doesn't even come close. But isn't there someone in the White House who's supposed to avoid things like this?

The Polish government did everything it could to turn Tuesday’s visit into one of Trump’s more enjoyable moments.

Yet, somehow, Trump managed to offend the Poles so deeply that the fallout was all over Polish news sites on Wednesday morning.

What happened? At the end of their meeting, the two leaders agreed to sign a strategic partnership pact to boost defense, energy, trade and security ties. But what could have been a peaceful moment for both presidents immediately took an awkward turn.

While signing the document, Trump sat comfortably in his chair while the Polish leader was forced to stand next to him and awkwardly reach over the table to sign. Poland’s Duda still somehow managed to smile at the camera, as Trump looked on with a stern face. The scene was captured on camera by the White House and was tweeted out shortly after — much to the bewilderment of Polish journalists, politicians and researchers.

The reaction in Poland was not positive:

“It’s nice of President Trump that he moved a bit, because otherwise our president would have had to sign the document on his knees,” Polish radio correspondent Pawel Zuchowski sarcastically commented on Twitter.

There's a lot more at the link.

This is not even about protocol, it's about common courtesy, which is not in Trump's repertoire. In Trump's world, everyone is either an enemy or an employee. Either way, they get treated like dirt. He simply has no clue, not only about how to deal with other world leaders, but how to deal with people, period.

Via Joe.My.God.