President Pence will not suddenly learn how difficult being President is. He knows that he can't speak only to people who are "nice" to him. He won't be courting favors from dictators and tyrants so that he can add to his personal fortune. He would reveal his taxes. He won't bring his wife or in-laws or children in as paid advisers.
He is, as we said in Boston when I was growing up, an honest politician: once he's bought, he stays bought.
And yes, he can be trusted to deal with nations like North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Israel in a serious manner. He has a healthy ego, not a distorted image of himself as an all-powerful, always winning, never admitting wrong god who could shoot someone in Times Square without losing a voter.