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On Wednesday, NATO officials met with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office as they sought to strengthen his hesitant support for the alliance. According to reports bythe iPaper, they presented “visual aids” that were more about boosting “Trump’s ego” than about making their argument.

As iPaper political editor James Ball writes, “Trump is not in agood mood with NATOcurrently. The US President has been consistently complaining that the Western alliance wasn’t present for him during his recent confrontation with Iran – he repeatedly called on them to assist him in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, even though he also claimed he didn’t really require their support. This has put NATO Secretary General and former Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte in a difficult position, trying to keep Trump satisfied in order to maintain NATO’s unity.” This occurs at a sensitive time, as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has reached a crucial stage.

As per Ball, Rutte is skilled in managing Trump. “even if it means a significant sacrifice to his own personal dignity.” The former frequently praises the latter, and acknowledges when Trump expresses criticism.NATO, and seldom resists.

His meeting with Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday, however, marked a new level even according to Rutte’s usual standards – because the secretary general brought visual aids to support his argument with the President,” says Ball. “These were not intricate diagrams explaining defense procurement, or even the current situation on the front lines in Ukraine – instead, they were absurdly basic charts created only to boost Trump’s ego.

According to Ball, it was clear that the charts were “specifically designed for Trump.” Each one was large, placed on an individual easel, and contained no more than 10 words, with the text in a gold, embossed style reminiscent of 1990s Word-Art, “with the message intended to convey that Trump was a huge success.”

“The Trump 47 Effect,” one stated, highlighting “NATO Europe and Canada” increasing their spending by an additional $258 billion over two years. The other criticized “The Trump Trillion,” attributing the president with a significant rise in defense spending to $1.2 trillion since 2016.

Rutte probably accurately assessed his intended audience,” states Ball. “The US President receives a daily briefingby the intelligence agenciesregarding the current condition of the world – having unprecedented access to events happening around us, which would have been hard for most of us to imagine. During Trump’s first term, the president acknowledged that he found these repetitive and disliked reading extensively. ‘I prefer bullets or as little as possible,’ he mentioned to Axios. ‘I don’t need, you know, 200-page reports on something that can be addressed in a single page.’

Because of Trump’s disdain for readingand absence of concentration led to briefings being restricted to only two times per week, with those presenting to the president instructed “to only show one perspective, to shorten their summary to a single page, and to use charts whenever possible. Donald Trump’s ability to focus did not go beyond simplicity, specifics, or even a second page of data.”

As Ball concludes, “Trump has not become more attentive in the years since. Therefore, although they may have made him appear foolish, Rutte’s large, golden, and flattering bar charts were likely a smart strategy in attempting to persuade the president to his viewpoint. What a manner to govern the world.”

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