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Many stories have emerged as to how now-former President Donald Trump approached his presidency, especially when it came to foreign policy. Trump’s former national security aide Fiona Hill revealed that Trump would embarrass his advisers with the remarks he would make to his foreign counterparts.
Speaking with The New York Times Magazine, Hill, who was one of the Trump administration officials who testified during the first impeachment, revealed that Trump did not really care for world affairs, nor did he bother learning about them. Hill went on to reveal that Trump’s unwillingness to learn about world affairs also led to awkward conversations with his foreign counterparts.
Hill cited one conversation between Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, where when Erdogan explained the history of the Ottoman Empire and his time as the mayor of Istanbul. Hill said that at that time, Trump did not appear to be interested in what his Turkish counterpart was talking about. Hill also cited the time that Trump remarked to Erdogan that many Americans did not know about Turkey until the 1978 movie “Midnight Express,” which is set in a Turkish prison.
Hill said that she agreed with other aides that the now-former president preferred visual aids rather than text.
“There were several moments of just utter embarrassment where he would see a magazine story about one of his favorite leaders, be it Erdogan or Macron. He’d see a picture of them, and he’d want it sent to them through the embassies, and when we’d read the articles, the articles are not flattering. They’re quite critical. Obviously, we can’t send this! But then he’d want to know if they’d gotten the picture and the article, which he’d signed: ‘Emmanuel, you look wonderful. So strong,’” recalled Hill.
Another former national security adviser to Trump, Charles Kupperman, also revealed his own experience with the former president during the interview with the news outlet. Kupperman, said that Trump would become furious at the mention of Ukraine on May 23, 2019, the year he was impeached for the first time for attempting to extort Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in producing a smear on Joe Biden in exchange for military aid.
Kupperman recalled that Trump described Ukraine as “corrupt” and that “they tried to screw” him.
