Trump’s brutal buddies

On the world stage, it takes certain dose of cold pragmatism to serve as president. Foreign autocrats can be needed allies even though they abuse their own people. Balancing reality while maintaining basic values is the test of a White House leader’s character.

Donald Trump is failing this challenge. With few qualms, he’s embracing a string of strongmen in a way that diminishes their offenses, props up their images and undercuts American beliefs. Once again, what the president stands for beyond power is unknown.

The latest example is Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte. No sooner was he elected last year than he launched a brutal antidrug campaign blamed for 7,000 killings, many at the hands of vigilantes. He’s bragged about his own deadly role and insulted a string of critics who dared caution him from Pope Francis to Barack Obama. Duterte’s swaggering style has led to comparisons to Trump’s reckless ways.

In a chummy phone call, Trump offered only praise for this conduct and suggested a White House meeting, a symbolic blessing of Duterte’s flagrant behavior. Recently, an Oval Office welcome was bestowed on Egyptian autocrat AbdelFattah el-Sissi, though he’s turned his troubled country into a police state complete with jailings and police killings.

The list goes on. Trump’s fondness for Russian leader Vladimir Putin dates back to his presidential run. While other leaders held back, Trump called to congratulate Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has jailed thousands of opponents, after he pushed through a referendum giving him more power. Bi- zarrely, Trump popped off that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is a “smart cookie” for consolidating power though he won’t heed warnings or overtures to limit nuclear weapons work.

The president appears to like rogue regimes led by harsh figures. Strength is the ultimate virtue, not the democratic or human ideals that this country should project.

There’s another level to this picture. By cozying up to such leaders, Trump is trampling on efforts by diplomats and negotiators trying to moderate global problems. If Trump salutes the likes of Duterte, what are the chances that anyone below the White House can work on a tangle of issues facing both countries?

The president is undercutting this country’s long record of defending human rights. His love of autocrats is shameful foreign policy.