Is Trump just winging his foreign policy?

So, after 100 days of Donald Trump the big question for me remains - does the US president have a coherent foreign policy or is he just winging it? Let's take his attitude to the war in Ukraine - here "inconsistent" is perhaps the best description.

Back in February, he and vice president JD Vance humiliated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by shouting at him in the Oval Office. A few days later, I spoke to Mr Zelenskyy in person when he confided to me that maybe he would have to step down if NATO could guarantee Ukraine membership - a man who perhaps sensed he could never win against a hostile Mr Trump.

Yet, fast-forward to last weekend in Rome, and an iconic picture of the two men in close conversation at the Pope's funeral. This time round, it is Russian President Vladimir Putin on the receiving end of the presidential anger, blaming him for the fact that "too many people are dying!" To Trump's supporters, this is the smart negotiator, constantly repositioning himself as new information comes in, prior to pulling off a spectacular deal.

To his many detractors, it indicates a dangerous incoherence that is replicated in other key areas, including tariffs as well as his relationship with his allies in Europe and his foes in Beijing. Trump 100: Read moreTariffs, DOGE, diet coke: 100 days in 100 wordsTrump's awkward reckoning 100 days inHow an immigration crackdown has changed lives Flexible or fallible; in control or all at sea? In the fast and furious world of Donald Trump, it's almost impossible to call.

The only constants are his unwavering self-belief, or as the man himself says: "I aim very high, and then I just keep pushing and pushing and pushing to get what I'm after." We shall see..