‘Good Donald Trump’ delivers in Seoul

Donald Trump delivered a fine and winning speech before the South Korean National Assembly yesterday

Melania and Donald Trump arrive at the National Cemetery in Seoul yesterday. Picture: Getty Images

US President Donald Trump delivered a fine and winning speech before the South Korean National Assembly yesterday.

It was the good Donald who came out to play, the bad Donald stayed away.

So vulnerable to the blandishments of flattery himself, he flattered his South Korean hosts.

Good thing, too. No one ­deserves a bit of flattery more than the stoic, creative, high-achieving South Koreans.

Your magnificent achievement, Mr Trump told them, was the source of the greatest concern, even the greatest panic, to the North Korean dictatorship.

By Mr Trump’s standards, the speech was not bombastic.

Naturally he praised himself, his administration and America generally.

But that’s all in order.

More importantly, his threats of the use of force were defensive threats.

They are the right threats to make.

If you attack us or our allies, Trump told the North Korean ­administration, we will respond with full vigour. We will defend ourselves, defend our allies, defend our interests, defend our joint prosperity.

You can rest absolutely assured that the South Koreans had an ­extensive dialogue with the Americans before the speech about what sort of tone was likely to be the most effective.

Bad weather thwarts a surprise visit to the DMZ. Picture: AP

Mr Trump himself has terrible poll numbers in South Korea but the US still has very high ­approval and credibility there, as does the American alliance. The President will have reinforced America’s standing and no doubt improved his own as well.

If Mr Trump and his team consciously paid heed to South Korean advice on the sort of speech to give, that is greatly to their credit.

There was even some poetry in the speech. We didn’t choose that the line of civilisation should be drawn here, on the Korean peninsula, the line between civilisation and barbarism, the line that runs through history, but here is where it has been drawn and we will ­defend it.

This is a powerful sentiment. It is how the world expects a US president to speak.

Of course, as ever with Mr Trump, it is impossible to know whether this represents just a spasm of lucidity in a sea of general Twitter madness, or is part of a serious effort by the President, who is suffering poor poll figures at home, to be a bit more presidential.

And for Mr Trump the speech had some important new departures. There was an indictment of North Korea on the grounds of its human rights abuses. This is idealism. This is concern for someone else. This is not just America first, but America plus.

The world is a much poorer place if the American President won’t speak about human rights. If Mr Trump can find his voice on this subject, even just occasionally, that is real progress.

Nine parts of diplomacy in Asia is just turning up.

Mr Trump is certainly turning up, making the longest presidential visit to Asia this millennium.

Asian societies are good to ­visiting leaders. They are more ­hierarchical, more formal, pay more attention to the dignity and face of a senior visitor. Mr Trump will certainly enjoy the pomp and circumstance his visit will ­occasion in China.

Indeed it looks as though Mr Trump is enjoying himself in Asia.

If he comes to associate Asia in his mind with success, that is a very good development indeed.