Declan Was in NYT on the President and compliments, among other things:

"Mr. Tillerson’s approach contrasted sharply with that of his predecessor, John F. Kerry, and with Mr. Tillerson’s boss, President Trump, who has called Mr. Sisi a “fantastic guy,” going as far as to compliment his choice of shoes at a meeting in Saudi Arabia last year."

Read the article here.

This is the essence of diplomacy. If there is nothing better to say about the president of a befriended nation that received billions of dollars from you and has an abominable human rights record, just compliment the president on his shoes.