Instead, Mr. Tillerson has largely been assigned to tidy up the confrontations Mr. Trump has had with longtime allies. Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, courted and flattered Mr. Trump, seeming to succeed in reversing decades of Mr. Trump’s criticisms of Japan. China’s president, Xi Jinping, seemed to publicly ignore Mr. Trump for weeks before Mr. Trump reversed himself on questioning the “One China” policy that nation holds so dear. Then last month, Mr. Peña Nieto canceled his meeting in Washington with Mr. Trump, prompting a rare uptick in his woeful approval ratings. The Trump administration responded by accusing Mexico of burdening the United States with undocumented immigrants, criminals and a trade deficit.

Source: New York Times February 23, 2017 02:15 UTC