It must be so hard to be polite to Trump

It pains me to see how nicely politicians of all stripes are treating Donald Trump. 

It's part of the job of a politician to subsume personal feelings in the interests of the state or the party. It has always amazed me how two politicians can engage in endless ad hominem vitriol during an election campaign or a leaders' debate, and then calmly walk over and shake the other guy's hand after the event, full of apparently genuine smiles. I know I couldn't do it.

With Trump, they know they have to perform, and to be on their best behaviour. More than any other politician, Trump goes on feel, on personalities, on whims. Presidents and Prime Ministers, used to being the most important and most powerful individuals in their own countries, know they must stow their egos, and work to pander to the ego of POTUS, because the wellbeing of their entire country depends on whether or not Trump likes them (as Trump himself admits).

It's ridiculous and wrong, but that's how it is. However much they hate the guy, however much they loathe caving to his infantile and annoying quirks, it has to be done. Britain's Keir Starmer is the best at it, the sycophant-in-chief, and it does seem to have paid dividends (although not everyone agrees). At the recent G7 meeting, Mark Carney had to do it too, praising Trump to the heavens and muzzling reflex reactions when the man says something stupid or misinformed of just plain wrong. Elbows up no more!

But, God, it must be hard.