President Donald Trump during a meeting at Winfield House during the NATO summit in London. Photo / AP
President Donald Trump during a meeting at Winfield House during the NATO summit in London. Photo / AP
Being part of the press pool to interview Donald Trump is an exhilarating and bewildering experience. All questions posed to him are answered - just not in the correct order, so you never know if a question about the German defence budget will get a response about Kim Jong-un.
Assoon as he started on Tuesday morning, President Trump was machine-gunning answers, and controversy, around the room.
He said there was a "tremendous spirit" around Nato, "except for one country".
France perhaps?
"President Macron said Nato was brain dead," Trump said, "I think that's very insulting…a very, very nasty statement. You just can't go around making statements like that about Nato, it's very disrespectful."
"Nobody needs Nato more than France," the President said, in his stride now.
"I've always had a great relationship with Emmanuel [Macron]. Sometimes he'll say things he shouldn't say, but he's gotta do what he's gotta do. Sometimes I think he does things that are counterproductive to his own country."
Before we could dig further, talk had moved to the British general election.
"I have no thoughts on it," he said. "I don't want to complicate it"
He then treated us to a roller coaster ride through US political campaigns.
President Trump speaks during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at Winfield House in London. Photo / AP
"I've won a lot of elections for a lot of people," he suddenly threw out, for no obvious reason whatsoever, "North Carolina…Kentucky…Louisiana…good guy, popular Governor…" my head was spinning, "…Kansas…I've won virtually every race," he said.
He finally wheeled back to Britain and something I recognised.
"But this is a different country," he said. My hopes soared that we were going to get an actual comment about the General Election.
But no: "…and, I say often, in Germany they like Obama, because he gave the ship away."
What, wait, what ship?
"…I'll stay out of the election. I was a fan of Brexit, I called it the day before. I think Boris is very capable and will do a great job."
Like a drowning man clinging to a lifebelt I was desperate to get the conversation back onto something I could recognise.
I asked the President if he could work with a possible Prime Minister Jeremy Corbyn.
"I can work with anybody," he boomed. "I'm a very easy person to work with."
"Look at this gentleman," he said, indicating the by-now somewhat stunned Jens Stoltenberg, Nato's Secretary General, sat next to him. "When I came in I was angry at Nato and now I've raised $130billion…and yet you still have many delinquents who have not paid up in full."
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Photo / AP
Different tack called for. Should the NHS be on the table in trade talks?
"No, no, no, I've had nothing to do with it, never even thought about it. I don't even know where that rumour started.
"If you handed it to us on a silver platter, we'd want nothing to do with it," he said.
Suddenly voices were raised at the back of the room. "Has a fist fight broken out?" called the President. Bizarre stuff. No, it was Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State, squeezing into the room
Desperate for an actual answer to a security question, I asked why North Korea had continued its nuclear programme despite three meetings between Trump and President Kim Jung Un.
The President brightened. "I have a lot of confidence in him, we'll see what happens.
But then, disconcertingly: "He definitely likes sending rockets up doesn't he?" he smiled. "That's why I call him rocket man. If I weren't President you'd be at war right now."
And with that we were ushered out of the room, blinking in the light, wondering if it had all been a dream, and concluding that sometimes Trump has just gotta do what he's gotta do, and we all have to make whatever sense of it we can.
