‘Call anytime you want’: Trump roils G-20 with disdain for rules

WASHINGTON – World leaders who did not experience Donald Trump’s first administration are quickly learning how he likes to operate. If he wants to talk to you, there is a good chance he wants you directly on the phone.

The early sense from diplomats and officials around the globe is that he will be spending even more time at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. And he will be calling who he wants, when he wants – protocol and national security concerns be damned. 

In one exchange posted to X this week by Mr Prabowo Subianto, the Indonesian leader told Trump he would meet him “wherever you are” to offer congratulations in person. 

“You have my number – this is my number,” Trump told Mr Prabowo. “And you call anytime you want.” 

Trump’s late-night statements, off-the-cuff remarks and spontaneous decisions require some fast thinking and rapid adjustments for leaders who dealt with a more controlled White House the past four years. 

Argentina’s Javier Milei, for one, is gushing at having bagged an invitation to speak at a donor event for the Conservative Political Action Committee, known as CPAC, in Palm Springs this week.

He will also get face time with Trump, making him the first leader of a Group of 20 nation to do so since the billionaire businessman emphatically won the US election.

No cell

Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva, who does not own a cell phone, faces a tougher job in handling a US leader who unashamedly plays favourites. Trump was a fan of Mr Lula’s predecessor and nemesis, Mr Jair Bolsonaro, who spent three months in Florida in Trump’s vicinity and had his passport confiscated for his role in an attempted coup in 2023.

Mr Lula is in the awkward position of playing host to the G-20 summit next week in Rio de Janeiro, a gathering that – along with the APEC meetings in Peru starting on Nov 14 – has become a swan song for Mr Joe Biden, a person who many leaders suddenly have little incentive to meet. 

Trump will dominate conversations in private pull-asides and indirectly set the agenda.

No matter what is on the official schedule, leaders are facing the imminent scenario of higher tariffs, lower taxes, more protectionism and deregulation affecting both the global economy as well as their own policies and political fortunes.

One key leader Trump has yet to speak with is China’s Xi Jinping, who is suddenly facing the prospect of a renewed trade war with 60 per cent tariffs.

The Chinese leader will meet one final time with Biden, who helped stabilised the relationship even while working closer with allies to deny Beijing advanced technology. Trump’s nominees for key national security positions all point toward an even more hawkish US stance on China.

One thing that will become clear this week in Latin America – with APEC and the G-20 bleeding into each other from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast – is just how much re-arrangement of travel schedules will take place to accommodate trying to get an audience with Trump – and what levers certain officials think they can pull.

Direct line

As leaders far and wide vie for his attention, one diplomatic veteran of Trump’s first term said the US leader will often remember the last thing he is told, so leaders must make that the message they want to sink in. 

It will be a familiar pattern to any leader who dealt with Trump when he was last in office.

Back then, they quickly learned the best way to get his attention was to reach out to him directly - or by appearing on Fox News - rather than going through traditional diplomatic channels such as the US ambassador or the National Security Council.

Certain characters, like the UK’s Boris Johnson, whose time in power coincided very briefly with Trump’s last days in the White House, are on his speed dial because of the unmistakable personal chemistry.

They may well continue to enjoy privileged access even when they have been been replaced a few times over by another prime minister, in this case Mr Keir Starmer, who is taking a crash course on how speak to Trump.

France’s Emmanuel Macron threw Trump a party to remember on Bastille Day back in 2017 and earned a good, long chat early on with the president-elect.

Others like Mr Olaf Scholz are tainted by association with Ms Angela Merkel and made clear their preference for Ms Kamala Harris, earning them a place at the back of the queue. It does not help that Germany’s government has fallen apart in the very moment Europe needs its leadership the most.

Italy’s Giorgia Meloni has carefully been cultivating a rapport with Mr Elon Musk, now a bonafide member of Trump’s inner circle and someone who keeps popping up on Trump’s various calls, including with the likes of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Pictures of Ms Meloni and Mr Musk staring into each other’s eyes at a black-tie gala event in New York unleashed a round of memes on social media. Her people, meanwhile, are working behind the scenes to get her an inside track with Trump.

Unlike some of her G-20 colleagues, Ms Meloni has appeared to be successfully balancing both sides of the spectrum.

She managed to be close to Mr Biden in spite of her hard-right credentials and can just as easily ramp up rhetoric on immigration and traditional families to align more closely to Trump’s brand of conservatism. 

She would not be alone in competing for the title of “Trump Whisperer”.

The reality is leaders of all stripes are scrambling for access to Trump  – learning the rules of entry on the fly. Besides Mr Prabowo, Japan’s Shigeru Ishiba is also exploring options to meet Trump.

South Korean leader Yoon Suk Yeol, who is also looking to meet the president-elect, has recently started working on his golf game.

Any leader who makes it to Mar-a-Lago will start to feel out what exactly Trump wants. And while the specifics may be unclear, one thing remains certain: He loves flattery and family connections matter. 

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) could be meeting with Trump ahead or after the G-20 and is also about prizing interpersonal relations – having greeted Trump outside the Murabba Palace with a ceremonial sword dance that had the president smiling.

Mr Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, has a close relationship with MBS and business interests in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia is counting on Mr Kushner to be one of its main conduits to Trump even though he said he will not have a formal role in the new administration, said a person close to the Saudi royal court, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive matters.

A Saudi-owned TV channel that interviewed Trump last month made a point of emphasising that he’s expecting a grandchild that will be “half Arab”. Trump’s daughter Tiffany, who is married to the son of Lebanese-born businessman Massad Boulos, is pregnant.

“I have many friends who are Arab,” said Trump. “I am very happy about this.”

Many leaders in the Middle East, particularly in Gulf Arab states, share Trump’s affinity for more personal and direct interaction.

“There’s a degree of optimism that difficult policy differences can be resolved through interpersonal contact,” said Dr Hasan Alhasan, a Bahrain-based senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Yet no matter what goes on in South America, the most consequential wheeling and dealing is already taking place in Mar-a-Lago or on Trump’s private cell phone.

It is clear that Trump has been keeping contact with Russian leader Vladimir Putin even when he was out of office. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has chatted with Trump three times already.

“Trump may not yet be in the White House, but the geopolitical landscape has already shifted in anticipation of his return,” said Mr Ryan Neelam, director of the Lowy Institute’s Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program. BLOOMBERG