With Friends Like These

Chatting it up with Vladimir "Bear Hugger" Putin on the phone.
Inviting Rodrigo Duterte to the White House for a visit.
Suggesting a sit-down with Kim Jong Un.
What about our allies in Europe? Angela Merkel owes us money!
It's all a part of the ongoing Bizarro World diplomacy set forth by "President" Trump.
Okay. It's possible that I just don't understand all the moving pieces and intricacies of international relationships and the way things turn on the tiniest details. I have a degree in creative writing, not world affairs. There are so many things I do not know.
Maybe this is the time-honored strategy of keeping your friends close, and your friends closer. My father used to say, "Love your enemies. It'll drive them crazy." My father was a printing salesman, not a statesman. I believe he got this idea from a Peanuts calendar. I would be more comfortable with this tack if it was consistent.
Perhaps this is all part of a ruse to bring these nutjobs into one room and then force them into releasing their people from the evil clutches of despotism. This would be more believable if it weren't for that whole consistency thing. One day China is our friend, then they are wicked and bad. All that praise "President" Trump throws around for dictators sounds more like fawning than Machiavelli. 
I am not the only one who is confused here. Senator John McCain is befuddled as well. In reference to the "President's" overtures to Kim Jong Un, "I don't understand it," McCain said. "I don't think that the president appreciates the fact that when he says things like that it helps the credibility and the prestige of this really outrageous strongman." It was one thing when Dennis Rodman went over to North Korea to shoot some hoops with the guy, but what message does it send the world when the leader of the free world starts making eyes at him? What kind of praise are we talking about? 
"At a very young age, he was able to assume power," Trump said. "A lot of people, I'm sure, tried to take that power away, whether it was his uncle or anybody else. And he was able to do it. So obviously, he's a pretty smart cookie." That's your Kim Jong Un. Maybe our "President" feels comfortable hanging around a guy who says, “You know, I am capable of eating a person. If you anger me, in truth, I will eat you alive. Raw.” If that's not the makings of a great state dinner, I don't know what is. That's Rodrigo Duterete. And Trump's bromance with Mister Putin goes back some time now. Maybe farther than we all currently know. I'm guessing the Fourth of July Barbecue at Mar-A-Lago is going to be a blast.