--- description: Donald Trump said Henry Kissinger agrees with his foreign policy ideas at a rally in Fresno, California Friday. Kissinger begs to differ. title: Donald Trump Says Henry Kissinger Backs His Foreign Policy Stance—He Begs to Differ image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte329a592c9769f2a/69889569cd1bba7be5700e3f/donald-trump16.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Donald Trump](/tag/donald-trump/) ## Donald Trump Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Donald Trump Says Henry Kissinger Backs His Foreign Policy Stance—But He Begs to Differ  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 15, 2023 1:04 AM CUTPublished: May 27, 2016 7:03 PM CUT  Presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Fresno, Calif. on May 27, 2016. Presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Fresno, Calif. on May 27, 2016.Spencer Platt—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 15, 2023 1:04 AM CUTPublished: May 27, 2016 7:03 PM CUT Donald Trump said Henry Kissinger agrees with his [foreign policy ideas](http://time.com/4309786/read-donald-trumps-america-first-foreign-policy-speech/?iid=sr-link5 "undefined") at a rally in Fresno, California Friday. “One of the biggest diplomats in the country who is a friend of mine, you saw recently I actually met with him and it was all over the place, so you can figure it out,” Trump began, apparently referencing a meeting he had with Kissinger, former secretary of state and foreign policy guru, in the middle of May. Trump continued: “And he said, ‘Donald, I thought you were wrong in your approach. I thought it was too tough. But you know what? All of those countries are calling me, What do we do, what do we do, how can we make him happy?'” Through a spokesperson, Kissinger disputed Trump’s account. “On foreign policy, you identify many key problems” Kissinger said of Trump. “I do not generally agree with the solutions. One-shot outcomes are probably not possible.” Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Trump’s likely opponent in the general election, has also touted support by Kissinger. “I was very flattered when Henry Kissinger said I ran the State Department better than anybody had run it in a long time,” she said at a Democratic debate in February, [MSNBC reports](http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/hillary-clinton-cozies-henry-kissinger-her-own-peril "undefined"). **Read More:** [How Henry Kissinger May Help Hillary Clinton in Email Lawsuit](http://time.com/4319639/hillary-clinton-emails-henry-kissinger-william-rehnquist-foia/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4351170/donald-trump-henry-kissinger-foreign-policy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4351170/donald-trump-henry-kissinger-foreign-policy/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Says Henry Kissinger Backs His Foreign Policy Stance—But He Begs to Differ","datePublished":"2016-05-27T19:03:14.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-15T01:04:21.000Z","description":"\"All of those countries are calling me... how can we make him happy?\"","url":"https://time.com/4351170/donald-trump-henry-kissinger-foreign-policy/","keywords":["Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte329a592c9769f2a/69889569cd1bba7be5700e3f/donald-trump16.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte329a592c9769f2a/69889569cd1bba7be5700e3f/donald-trump16.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"FRESNO, CA - MAY 27: Presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Fresno on May 27, 2016 in Fresno, California. Trump is on a Western campaign trip which saw stops in North Dakota and Montana yesterday and two more in","caption":"FRESNO, CA - MAY 27: Presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Fresno on May 27, 2016 in Fresno, California. Trump is on a Western campaign trip which saw stops in North Dakota and Montana yesterday and two more in C","creditText":"Spencer Platt—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4351170/donald-trump-henry-kissinger-foreign-policy/","name":"Donald Trump Says Henry Kissinger Backs His Foreign Policy Stance—But He Begs to Differ"}}]}] ```