Give Donald Trump credit, he is imaginative concerning foreign policy.

Freed from brokering the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, he managed to place relations with Russia on a positive track, despite some of his advisors, chiefly Keith Kellogg, pushing for a tilt towards Kyiv. Trump refused Ukraine’s request for Tomahawk missiles. Now he is reportedly ready to meet Vladimir Putin in Budapest.

This is one of Trump’s assets in that he considers all options before acting. Sometimes this allows Republican hawks, like Lindsey Graham, to think that he can be converted into a John Bolton. Somehow, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, concluded that neo-conservatives were again in the ascendance. So confident, he returned to the White House to request long-distance missiles. Trump refused, and Zelenskyy once again had to contend with Putin’s success.

Not since Dwight Eisenhower has an American president been as flexible and untethered to a rigid foreign policy as President Trump. He managed to get Israel to the table after they bombed America’s ally Qatar. Moreover, Trump weighed his options concerning Ukraine without being muscled by the European Union. When he focuses, Trump has a keen eye for diplomacy. Furthermore, he knows what he wants, which is peace.

Unlike Richard Nixon, Trump is not particularly emotional in world affairs. His actions concerning Iran were limited, and it worked. He follows Nixon’s National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger’s Realpolitik, better than his boss. Trump’s approach has a hardline edge with a subtle application. He is limited enough, but prudently uses military power.

This is creative, considering the dogmatic policies of many of his predecessors; he sees no enemies, only American interests. Smartly, he regards war as a messy affair, bad for business. He also has no patience for ideology in foreign affairs. He leans towards the practical. Given the often-conditional style of American diplomacy, Trump eschews the box-checking predilections of the NSA, CIA, and the State Department. You cannot avoid admiring his deft style.

Given this, there are no guarantees, and in time, Trump could revert to hardline business as usual. These ceasefires are difficult to regulate, and each negotiating party tests the limits of American generosity, but it is refreshing that he gives no one the benefit of the doubt. Joe Biden’s foreign policy was locked in supporting Ukraine, unquestionably, and checkmated by Benjamin Netanyahu in Gaza.

If Trump masters these situations, he deserves enormous credit. It takes a great deal of courage, particularly when it comes to Russia, but he has stayed on course. Perhaps in his forthcoming meeting with China’s Xi Jinping, he could forge an alliance between the great powers, or at least an understanding.