Vox - China isn't the first country to flatter its way to Trump's heart. It won't be the last

It seems like everyone is copying Saudi Arabia. Just sweet talk Trump on a visit. Throw in some gold plated swag, and suddenly you can do no wrong. In Saudi Arabia, they are going on a little killing spree. It will be interesting to see what Trump overlooks after getting his ass kissed.

https://www.vox.com/world/2017/11/8/16614136/trump-china-xi-jinping-asia-visit-flatter-honor

Chinese President Xi Jinping is honoring President Trump with an unusually lavish reception and one-of-a-kind perks in China this week — the latest example of how leaders around the world are using flattery as a diplomatic tool for influencing the American president.

Weeks after Trump’s election, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made his way to Trump Tower to gift the president-elect with a $4,000 gold-plated golf club. When Saudi Arabia hosted Trump in May, they projected a five-story image of his face onto the Ritz-Carlton hotel where he stayed. Polish politicians bused adoring fans into Warsaw this summer to ensure that the president felt just like he was at rally of his supporters at home.

It’s common for world leaders to honor one another with big welcomes and thoughtful gifts, but there is something over the top and, well, Trumpian about many of their gestures toward the president.

As heads of state struggle to predict what the leader of the free world is thinking or likely to do at any given moment, they have settled on massaging his ego as a way to nudge his mood in their favor.