President Trump dominated his European interlocutors.

Remember when President Obama arrived in China and his hosts did not even bother to come out to greet him on the stairs to Air Force One? I would have taken off for Japan, but the president decided to exit from the lower stairs of the plane. Remember when Joe Biden arrived in Saudi Arabia and they sent a DoorDash driver to meet him at the airport? Prince Salman was nowhere to be found and had to wait for his fist bump when the two leaders met later. Remember when Joe Biden would wander off during G7 meetings or Allied remembrances?

On the one hand, a person could argue that all the events listed above were insignificant. They did not change US military or economic strength. But such an approach is wrong. Just as there are animals that can make themselves look bigger or more threatening as needed, countries project who they are. When Ronald Reagan came into the White House, he revived the black-tie, expensive state dinner. President Carter had been more frugal over such events, but Reagan understood that if one wanted to project power to the world, then he needed to show it. We here in Israel laughed when President Trump made his first overseas trip in 2017. He arrived in Saudi Arabia and was received with a golden escalator and pomp not seen in ages. Israel, his next stop, could not keep up. And while the official reception at the airport was dignified, it could not hold a candle to the multimillion-dollar events—with a sword dance--in the Saudi desert.

Donald Trump made a trip to Europe last week and projected American power as not seen in ages. He held court at his golf course and personal mansion in Scotland—which for him via his mother present home field advantage. The president of the European Union and the prime minister of England made their way to him, and not the other way around. Another president would have gone to Brussels and then 10 Downing Street to be received by his hosts at their personal lairs. Not Trump. The leaders of Europe and America’s “special relationship” ally had to come to him. And Trump did not hold back on what bothered him:

• Too much immigration is destroying Europe.
• Windmillsare  ugly and inefficient and should be gotten rid of
• The mayor of London is a bad guy and doing a lousy job
• The trade deal with the EU is totally in America’s favor
• The need to preserve free speech in the UK and the EU

Donald Trump, like MacArthur in post-war Japan, came as an emperor. He made a trade deal that infuriated Europeans and forced even Trump’s critics at home to marvel at how he secured 15 percent tariffs and hundreds of billions in investment and energy purchase commitments. A good guest does not say that the roast was overcooked or contradict the views of his host. Not Trump. He put his two honored hosts/guests in the hot seat over uncontrolled immigration, new anti-speech laws that may harm US tech companies, and the waste of environmentally ugly windmills. Ursula von der Leyen and Keir Starmer looked as if they would rather be in a cage with a saber-tooth tiger than continue sitting next to Trump as he rattled off their failures. But the cameras were rolling, and they were on his turf. So they sat, made faces, and hoped that Trump might fall asleep like Biden, so that they could slink off as soon as possible.

When Douglas MacArthur took control of Japan, Emperor Hirohito was number one on America's war criminals list. MacArthur knew that he needed the emperor’s buy-in to get the Japanese to accept the radical changes that the five-star general planned for the country. MacArthur waited for the emperor to come to him, which he did in September of 1945. Rather than hang the Japanese leader, he got him to go around the country to promote the American program for a radically changed country. It was not enough that the US was the most powerful country in the world or had just defeated both Nazi Germany and Japan. It needed to project power so that everyone from the emperor and on down would accept massive changes to Japanese society that broke up feudal land ownership and gave women the right to vote. One can project power and have nothing behind him, or one can have great power but not know how to project it. For the US, projecting power to both friends and enemies is key to US military and economic success. Based on Donald Trump’s statements, after the assassination of General Soleimani and the attacks on the Iranian nuclear facilities, the Iranians coordinated a weak response to show some revenge without inviting the US to attack them again.

Everyone, including Vladimir Putin, has stated that had Trump been in power, the war in Ukraine would not have started. Instead, the failed Afghan exit with many additional public military failures like ships running into each other apparently emboldened both Putin and Hamas to take a chance at war against a US ally. I don’t know if Trump’s presence alone would have prevented the psychopaths in Gaza and Doha from attacking southern Israel. Still, Trump’s provision of weapons and international support has made it easier for Israel to concentrate on warfighting. This week, the president swatted away the French and British support for “two states”, a failed concept now in its fifth decade. The president feels no need to toe their line or put the US into anyone else’s program. He will direct both internal and foreign policy for the benefit of the United States and its citizens. Tariffs have already brought hundreds of billions of dollars into the Treasury without causing any spike in inflation. NATO members promised earlier this year to cough up a lot more money for their defense spending. Europe, the Middle East, and to some degree the Far East are dancing to Donald Trump’s music. During his time in Scotland, he helped to broker a ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand. He used the threat of heightened tariffs to get them to take a break from the surprise fighting that broke out along their border.

Projecting power is no small thing. It often allows a leader to achieve their goals or prevent something they don’t want at a very low cost to their country. When John F. Kennedy made it clear that the US would get rid of Soviet missiles in Cuba by military means if necessary, Kruschev rolled up his missiles—over the vehement protests of Fidel Castro, who demanded that missiles stay on his island. Donald Trump, through his first term and the four years out of office, has learned to fine-tune his projection of American power via threats, compliments, economic tools, and military capabilities. And for America, the result is a lot of money coming into the country’s coffers and enemies thinking twice if they want to start with the president descended from a Scottish king.

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