( CNN) The cornerstone of President Donald Trump's foreign policy so far has largely been Donald Trump.

In Kim, Trump has encountered an equally outsized figure. And over the past year, the tension between the US and North Korea felt at times like it was about two men who got into each other's heads. They alone could save this or kill it. And both seem just fine with that responsibility.

How tied is US policy to the President's gut?

He might discuss imminent missile strikes in Syria over glorious chocolate cake with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as he did last year, at the same time trying to engage China's help on North Korea. French President Emmanuel Macron showered Trump with honors like a military procession that constructed the US president jealous, and bro'd around Washington in an arguably desperate and ultimately futile attempt to flatter Trump into remaining in the Paris climate agreement or the Iran nuclear deal. More recently, the leaders of the world's largest democracies use a meeting in Canada to implore Trump to change his intellect on tariffs he's doled out like demerits, but he was more interested in complaining that Russia had been kicked out of the group a few years ago. On North Korea's Kim: “I want to have a good relationship with North Korea. I want to have a good relationship with many other countries, ” Trump said. “We had great chemistry. He gave us a lot.” On China's Xi Jinping: “President Xi and I will always be friends , no matter what happens with our disagreement on trade.” On the UK's Theresa May: “The Prime Minister and myself have had a really great relationship, although some people don't necessarily believe that, but I can tell you I have a tremendous respect for the Prime Minister and the job she's doing, and I think the impression is reciprocal, ” Trump said.