Bill Richardson: Obama Needs To Work on His Personal Relationships with Foreign Leaders

‘You’ve got to find ways that they have some kind of understanding with you, some kind of trust’

FARROW: “Governor, you’ve dealt with a lot of tough leaders, a lot of holdouts, similar to the ones the president will be up against. You’ve also dealt with some pretty isolationist types. You’ve dealt with Saddam Hussein, you've dealt with leaders from the Taliban, you’ve made many trips to North Korea. What have you learned that you would tell the current president?”
RICHARDSON: “Well, I would say to him, 'I was very pleased with your speech today. You were strong. But a lot of it is personal relationships. You’ve got to find ways to engage personally, even with some of these countries whose leaders you don’t like, you detest. You’ve got to find ways that they have some kind of understanding with you, some kind of trust.' I think the president has made some laudable movements in that direction, but, you know, you’ve got to build the relationships. I wish Putin and Obama had a stronger personal relationship, they don’t. Actually I think Obama honestly tried. But I think these sessions at the U.N. are very important, 125 leaders. The staffs are not there. They get a chance to know eachother.”
 

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