In a move that has come to the surprise of many, John Kerry, of all people, has offered some praise to President-Elect Donald Trump. 

The Washington Examiner reports that Kerry - the former secretary of state for the Obama administration and the Biden administration's climate czar - did so this past week.

The reason, of course, why this is so surprising is that Kerry has been one of Trump's harshest critics in the Biden administration.

Apparently, though, Kerry is at least one member of the political left who is willing to recognize that Trump does have some good qualities.

Background

The comments came on Thursday, when Kerry participated in an event that was hosted by Harvard University's Institute of Politics. The event was simply called, A Conversation with John F. Kerry, and it can be watched in its entirety here.

The Examiner provides the context of Kerry's remarks about Trump.

"The nation’s top climate negotiator and former President Barack Obama’s secretary of state offered rare and high praise for President-elect Donald Trump’s unpredictability on the world stage," the outlet wrote.

It added, "John Kerry, an artful though more traditional international negotiator, said that Trump’s famous style of coming on strong and sometimes threatening could initially be a winning tactic when facing down world bullies,"

It would be safe to say that the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris has taken a different approach.

"It could be helpful"

The Examiner went on to quote what Kerry specifically said about Trump.

He said:

He makes unpredictability a virtue, and it actually can be helpful. Don’t laugh. It could be helpful in a negotiation for them to worry about you and not know where you’re coming from."

According to the Examiner, Kerry was responding to a question about negotiating with Iran regarding conflicts in the Middle East. The outlet reports that the crowd did laugh when Kerry said that Trump "makes unpredictability a virtue."

Kerry went on to explain why unpredictability could be a good thing in negotiations. He said:

When you’re just starting out and you’re trying to find your ground and you don’t know exactly where you’re going to be able to go, it’s not a bad thing for them to worry about you a little bit and what you might do. You can’t play that all the way through a negotiation, but it’s a good place to begin.

It's rare praise, indeed, from Kerry for Trump.