Trump looks emotionally broken - and dignified Starmer is responsible |
Every day, Donald Trump lashes out. Barely a news cycle passes without some new semi-literate outburst directed at Keir Starmer.
Speaking alongside the Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in the Oval Office yesterday, the US President said that the UK-US alliance “always was the best until Keir came along”. He then turned to a bust of Winston Churchill and said: “Unfortunately, Keir is not Winston Churchill.”
This is now just a part of geopolitical life. For his part, Starmer makes sure not to say anything aggressive in response. He keeps his poise and his dignity. The US President, on the other hand, seems to be undergoing some kind of sustained emotional breakdown.
To be fair, he is experiencing humiliation on a global scale. He has spent the last year insulting his allies. He threatened to invade Greenland and Canada. He suggested he’d unravel Nato. He lashed out against Europe. He slapped tariffs on everyone. Then, almost by accident, he started a war in Iran only to belatedly discover that the regime might close the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation. And now, in a moment of near-perfect moral resolution, he must plead with all the people he has insulted to come save him.
“You don’t have to send me aircraft carriers,” Trump says he told Starmer. “Send me a couple of minesweepers.”
America has never looked more alone. It has never looked more isolated and mad. So day after day, as his dreams corrode into reality, Trump lashes out. And there is no one he lashes out against more than the British Prime........