海角大神

If Donald Trump loses his cool because of the American media, how would he deal with personal challenges from world leaders?聽

Or to put it in blunter terms, if Mr. Trump can鈥檛 handle ABC, how could he stand up to Vladimir Putin?

It鈥檚 yesterday鈥檚 combative Trump press conference that sparks these thoughts, of course. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee harshly attacked reporters for pressing him on his promises of charitable aid to veterans鈥� groups.

Trump called one ABC reporter in the room a 鈥渟leaze.鈥� He complained that the press wasn鈥檛 giving him credit for being generous. 鈥淵ou make me look very bad,鈥� he said.

But Trump鈥檚 evident anger was focused on a contretemps he should have expected. On Jan. 28 he held a televised fundraiser at which he said he鈥檇 raised $6 million for vets, including $1 million from his own pocket. Those are things that are easy to check, and reporters did.

In late May, The Washington Post questioned his handling of the money. Some veterans鈥� groups had indeed received checks, but the total was nothing near $6 million. Trump himself did not appear to have donated anything. What was the deal?

On Tuesday, Trump angrily outlined the donations. His foundation had made many of them, including his own $1 million gift, on May 23, after the Post story ran.

He continued berating the media to the end of the press conference.

鈥淚 find the political press to be unbelievably dishonest. I will say that,鈥� he said in closing. 鈥淥K. Thank you all very much. Thank you.鈥�

All in all, Trump seemed like someone with a thin skin. And look 鈥� the US media is one thing. They鈥檙e unpopular, they鈥檙e used to being called 鈥淣azi moron鈥� and worse, and it鈥檚 easy to hurl insults at them. But what鈥檚 President Trump going to do if a foreign leader, having seen this display, decides for his or her own purposes to taunt the new US leader?

Because they will. Personal relationships are a big part of geopolitics, for better or worse. Handling them is one of the most important aspects of the presidency. It鈥檚 where the personality of the person sitting in the Oval Office really comes into play.

Think of the blustery Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev hectoring new US President John Kennedy in Vienna in 1961. (鈥淩oughest thing in my life,鈥� JFK confided to a columnist afterward.) Or the rapport that eventually developed between Ronald Reagan and the final Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev. It helped ease the end of the cold war.

American voters shouldn鈥檛 worry that Trump will behave toward foreign leaders as he did toward US reporters, campaign spokeswoman Katrina Pierson said yesterday.

Trump would not talk to a roomful of colleagues that way 鈥渂ecause they are not treating him the way the media is doing today,鈥� Ms. Pierson said on CNN.

Well, foreign adversaries can be much rougher than ABC or The Washington Post, if they want.

Currently Trump鈥檚 problem with foreign leaders isn鈥檛 rooted in belligerence as much as in credulity, according to one critic. Trump seems easy to flatter.

Thus Vladimir Putin has said admiring things about Trump, and Trump has responded in kind. Trump has combined some words of admiration for North Korea鈥檚 dictator Kim Jong-un with criticism, and North Korea official media has now come out in favor of Trump, notes Jay Nordlinger of the right-leaning but anti-Trump National Review.

鈥淲hat if the ayatollah Khamenei flatters Trump? Will Trump sweeten the Iran deal?鈥� writes Nordlinger.

If nothing else, the Hillary Clinton campaign is eager to bolster the image of Trump as an unstable entity. It fits with their contention that he鈥檚 too risky to entrust with America鈥檚 nuclear codes.聽

Mrs. Clinton鈥檚 already uses it as a talking point to help her pivot away from questions about the propriety and legality of her use of a private e-mail server as secretary of State.

Asked about the server yesterday in multiple television interviews, Clinton responded with the same line: 鈥淚 hope voters look at the full picture of everything I鈥檝e done in my career and the full threat posed by a Donald Trump presidency.鈥�