Prized Oval Office Visits With Trump Become Perilous Tests of Nerve
After an uncomfortable Oval Office encounter with Donald Trump, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa becomes the latest world leader hoping to mend relations only to discover the US president has something else in mind: confrontation.
He was seeking to secure Trump's favor: catering to his ego with golf swag, a cadre of professional athletes, and an offer for a ceremonial transition at the upcoming G-20 summit. And while he ducked and dived from an encounter many saw as a set-up, Ramaphosa serves as a cautionary tale of how foreign leaders who come courting should behave — and indeed if they should come at all.
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