President Donald Trump on Thursday used a White House gathering to spotlight what he described as his administration’s foreign policy gains, telling lawmakers the United States is regaining international respect and has helped defuse several global crises.
Addressing the annual Congressional Ball, a bipartisan holiday tradition that brings together members of the House and Senate, Trump said European leaders are increasingly seeking direction from Washington.
“The European nations are reporting that your president might as well be the leader of the European nations also,” he said.
“They listen to us, and they respect us like they’ve never respected us before.”
Trump also claimed that the US had “solved eight wars.”
He said he may need to intervene diplomatically in tensions between Thailand and Cambodia, noting that he would “make a couple of phone calls” to “get that one back on track.”
The president said his administration aims to maintain strong relations worldwide but suggested that some countries had taken advantage of the United States.
“We want to get along with as many nations as we can,” he said. “We’ve been ripped off by a lot of them for a lot of years.”
