Politics and Money

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World leaders skip out on Trump to avoid the embarrassment

WASHINGTON — Leaders of some of the world’s most influential – or controversial – countries skipped Donald Trump’s debut at the United Nations rather than face the prospect of being caught up in an embarrassing controversy by the unpredictable U.S. president.

The list of state leaders missing the international event is long and growing. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are two of the highest profile absences. But there are many whose faces were noticeably absent during Trump’s aggressive speech Tuesday on confronting North Korea, terrorism and communism, including Germany’s Angela Merkel, England’s Theresa May, Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro and Mexico’s Enrique Peña Nieto.

Back in 2009, when former President Barack Obama first stood in the General Assembly hall, he was the fresh-faced leader who inspired hopes for a world that might put racism behind. His staff fielded dozens of requests from world leaders who sought to be seen with the young leader who weeks later would go on to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

With Trump, however, foreign leaders have learned that you never can tell how a conversation, public or private, with Trump is going to go.

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article174181001.html