It is an improbable scene: while spending the weekend at a private club in Palm Beach, Florida, the president of China is lecturing someone on history and geopolitics. Even more improbable: his pupil is the president of the United States.

Donald Trump—who spoke of “China” so often during his campaign that his punchy enunciation of the nation’s name became a meme—had, by his own account, told President Xi Jinping that the United States would go easier on trade negotiations with China if Xi would merely “solve North Korea.”

“‘You want to make a great deal?’ ” Trump recounted to The Wall Street Journal. “ ‘Solve the problem in North Korea.’ That’s worth having deficits. And that’s worth having not as good a trade deal as I would normally be able to make.” The only problem, according to Xi? It turns out that neutralizing North Korea, China’s increasingly bellicose ally, isn’t a simple matter.

“After listening for 10 minutes, I realized it’s not so easy,” Trump told the Journal. “I felt pretty strongly that they had a tremendous power [over North Korea]. But it’s not what you would think.”

By the time Ivanka Trump’s six-year-old daughter appeared to sing a Chinese folk song, Xi must have been relieved to encounter someone with a passing familiarity with his country.

This follows a pattern, in more ways than one. It’s evident that the president is in over his head on matters central to the job. What’s equally worrying is that he doesn’t even seem to realize the need to study up.

Trump has had similar realizations and turnarounds across a stunning array of issues of concern to a sitting president. On the U.S. Export-Import: Trump was against it until Boeing’s C.E.O. reportedly walked him through the bank’s functions. On his claims Barack Obama “wiretapped” Trump tower: only after publicly accusing his predecessor did he ask aides how the government actually goes about obtaining warrants from the a court authorized by the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act (FISA). And on whether China manipulates its currency? Trump stood by the claim throughout the campaign and the early months of this year, only to finally be disabused of the notion by corporate executives who told him they believe he’s wrong. (It’s worth noting that the president is getting his information not from the departments full of career experts who report to him, but from foreign leaders and business executives, two groups that are very comfortable prioritizing their own agendas over U.S. interests.)

And that’s still not all. After suffering a bruising defeat in his administration’s bid to repeal Obamacare. “I have to tell you, it’s an unbelievably complex subject,” Trump said. “Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated.”