Reality check for Trump: foreigners are protesting his domestic policies

AMERICAN diplomacy lavishes time and money on making friends abroad, but it has often fallen short of pacifying or containing popular discontent against US policy.

The results have been worrying to say the least. In 1958, then Vice-President Richard Nixon's car came under sudden attack by angry crowds in Venezuela, as Venezuelans vented their fury against American policy. And when Mr Nixon became president, millions of people worldwide protested his and President Lyndon Johnson's relentless bombing of North Vietnam through the 1960s and early 1970s. Now, many millions are marching against President Donald Trump's policies.

There are lessons for Mr Trump, who is planning his visits to countries where citizens are opposing his ban on Muslims travelling to the US, his denunciations of the media, and his plan to suspend women's healthcare.