Leaders rush to pay homage to Trump as they brace for him shaking up the old-world order

In the hours after Donald Trump secured another term in the White House, a familiar exercise was unfolding in foreign capitals. Dusting off their proverbial Trump playbooks, leaders from Paris to Jerusalem to Riyadh and beyond began posting congratulatory messages online and pressing their ambassadors in Washington to find a way — any way — to get in contact with the incoming president directly.

In the hours after Donald Trump secured another term in the White House, a familiar exercise was unfolding in foreign capitals. Dusting off their proverbial Trump playbooks, leaders from Paris to Jerusalem to Riyadh and beyond began posting congratulatory messages online and pressing their ambassadors in Washington to find a way — any way — to get in contact with the incoming president directly. The scramble did not go unnoticed among Trump’s bleary-eyed aides in Florida, who kept close track of who was reaching out — and in what order. As the world digests the reality of another Trump presidency, the central characteristics of his approach to the world are coming into sharper focus almost immediately. Transactional, personality-based and erratic, the Trump doctrine made for a chaotic four years that left both foreign leaders and seasoned American national security aides exhausted and jittery. Nothing in Trump’s campaign for president suggests his approach is likely to change. Unlike those years, however, the world is now “on fire,” as Trump likes to say, and he’s promised to extinguish the flames. He has vowed to end Russia’s war in Ukraine in 24 hours and bring peace to the Middle East, all while constraining American foes in North Korea and Iran. That’s in addition to slapping broad new tariffs on China, reassessing stalwart American defense alliances like NATO and finding countries willing to take the migrants he’s promised to deport en masse. How he will accomplish any of those goals is uncertain. He did not delve into details of his plans as a candidate, much less confer with American allies about how to approach the problems collectively.