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Mr. Trump, it was believed, had little time for international alliances, his "America First" mantra indicating scant concern for the views and concerns of US partners. Indeed, it is hard to think of a US president who had worse global media coverage in his opening few weeks than Donald Trump -- with the possible exception of Ronald Reagan.

One hundred days into the Trump presidency, however, the businessman-turned-politician has succeeded in confounding his sharpest critics on several fronts. President Trump is never going to win a global popularity contest, but he is increasingly gaining the respect of America's allies.

A sharp judge of character and an astute hirer of talent over the course of many decades, Trump has clearly benefited from the presence of a highly respected defense secretary, retired Marine Gen. James Mattis, an outstanding vice president in Mike Pence, a deeply experienced negotiator in Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, and an imposing new national security adviser, Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster.

Combined with Mike Pompeo at the CIA and the new rising star at Turtle Bay, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, a very powerful team is representing the US on the world stage, significantly stronger in many respects to the one assembled by Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama.

What is abundantly clear from Trump's leadership team is that the era of "leading from behind" is emphatically over. Ironically, it was the avowedly internationalist President Obama who began the process of US disengagement worldwide, from the initial withdrawal of US forces from Iraq to the closing of American bases in Europe -- an approach the supposedly isolationist President Trump is busily reversing.

In his first 100 days, President Trump has worked to reinvigorate the partnerships with Britain, Israel, Japan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and a host of other countries that were frankly taken for granted during the Obama years. There is a sense in both London and Jerusalem of a new era in relations with the US post-Obama.

What is emerging from the First 100 days of the Trump presidency is a remarkably traditional approach to US foreign policy, based on strengthening long-standing alliances, while bolstering American military presence in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

This, coupled with a willingness to actually enforce "red lines" and put America's enemies on notice -- from Damascus and Tehran to Pyongyang and Moscow -- the Trump administration is looking a good deal more robust than its predecessor. And that is no mean feat for a President whom many critics had casually written off as a showman who supposedly lacked the gravitas or discipline to lead the world's greatest superpower.

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Donald Trump is confounding his critics - CNN