One glaring difference, though, is how they handle the mass media.
As a former TV reality show host, the 70-year-old tycoon-turned-president-elect knows how the media like to characterise him, zeroing in on his pumpkin-coloured skin, his wife Melania’s explicit photo shoots, and his self-regarding statements.
TV host and comedian Jimmy Fallon poked fun by impersonating Trump in an interview with the man himself, in a sketch dubbed “Trump interviews himself in the mirror”. “The one who deserves to interview me is me,” declares Fallon as the real Trump giggles along, replying “Look, I can fix things because I’m really rich. How? I’m just gonna do it.”
While his competitor Hillary Clinton admitted she’s not a breathtaking speaker, Trump showed an unerring instinct for making a scene by shouting, swearing and delivering doubtful but eyebrow-raising pledges – like the one to build a “big, beautiful wall” at the Mexican border.
As it turned out, despite the constant bashing by the media, many of them clearly biased against him, Trump got free publicity and managed to defeat his competitor. The as heated protests greeted his election to office, Trump suddenly seemed to find his cool, starting with the routine announcement of policy priorities for his first 100 days in the White House.
The message seemed to be, “After getting what I want, why make a big performance?”
Meanwhile across the world in Southeast Asia, one leader doesn’t share that approach. For him, big performances appear to be a crucial part of forging public awareness of his government’s efforts.
Since the junta took control in May 2014, Prayut’s solo “talk show”, lasting 30 minutes to an hour, has been aired on TV Pool every Friday night – a period now widely dubbed “electricity-saving hour”. The Government Spokesman’s Office has attempted to lighten the mood of the show but its viewer-ratings remain a mystery, at least in the public sphere.
The Thai premier also holds the principle of seniority sacrosanct, something comedian Udom “Nose” Taepanich targeted with a mocked up interview in which Prayut supposedly told a journalist, “Criticising me in columns is okay, but I don’t like it when they curse me behind my back.”
But still, professional journalism seems to vex the premier, who routinely accuses reporters of “asking nonsense questions” when they quiz him about scandals involving people close to him, including his younger brother and government figures.
General Prayut insists the media should “help build the nation” by presenting the positive performance of the government. They should not drag him into their political agendas, he adds. Meanwhile he has had his government spokesman slam the Shinawatras and the Pheu Thai Party again and again.
It is natural for any leader, including Trump and Prayut, to want the media to play along with them.
While the rule-breaking Trump takes a casual attitude to the truth, Prayut adheres to strict military order and thinks it should work just as well in the civil sphere as it did when he headed the Army.
The US media are already worrying about freedom of expression under the unpredictable Trump, who used the press so expertly during his campaign. Their Thai counterparts, meanwhile, have been smothered for far too long.