It was all going so well for Keir Starmer.
One prevarication has followed another, before time has been spent sitting on a fence, after which his instincts have cut in, and some far-right measure has grabbed his attention, followed by him watching his support ratings tank, yet again. But at least he thought (although no one agreed with him) that he had Donald Trump on side. Until 6.38 this morning, that was, when this landed on Truth Social, Trump's favoured social media platform:
I may be wrong, but I think even Starmer will have some problems getting the interpretation of this one wrong.
Trump does not like him.
Trump thinks he's a fool.
Trump thinks he lacks all judgement.
Trump says he must have Greenland as a result because with the likes of Starmer in Europe, then the US must control Greenland, or it will give them away.
Now, Chagos is complicated. Let';s not pretend otherwise. I think the UK has consistently got it wrong. I think, unsurprisingly, that Trump is wrong. But none of that matters much this morning. What matters is that Trump has proved three things.
First, there is no special relationship.
Second, he could not give a damn about the UK and what it thinks.
Third, he thinks Starmer is incompetent.
I happen to share that last view, but my reasoning differs somewhat from that Trump is using, and again, that does not matter. What matters is that Starmer cannot duck this: Trump is saying to Starmer he is not in the room to talk, and there is no point pretending otherwise. Whatever he might have liked to pretend until yesterday, Starmer can no longer suggest that talking will work, because it very clearly will not.
The questions are fourfold.
First, can Europe agree on what to do in the face of a threat? That seems like a big issue to me, not least because this is not the first crisis that will arise: Greenland is just the first domino in a sequence if it falls.
Second, will the pretence that we are allies with the US now come to an end, when we are so obviously not?
Third, will Starmer now describe Trump as what he is, which is a fascist, and then react accordingly?
Fourth, will the countermeasures begin, because they must?
And, I might add, why is Mike Johnson in parliament today? Isn't it time to stop pretending and get off the fence? It is, if you care.
Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:
There are links to this blog's glossary in the above post that explain technical terms used in it. Follow them for more explanations.
You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.
And if you would like to support this blog you can, here:
Buy me a coffee!
Trump has at least a couple of things to worry about on the domestic front.
First, he has not released all of the Epstein files. He is ignoring legislation passed by Congress, necessarily on a bipartisan basis. Will they continue to ignore that?
Second, there is a fair chance that the US Supreme Court will rule against his tariff policy this week, as it should because the constitution is clear about who controls taxes and trade.
If the legislative and/or judicial arms move against him, or even just try to block him, he will find things much more difficult.
Agreed.
The Supreme Court is meant to rule today.
I am assuming the fascists will prevail and that the rule of law in the US has been suspended.