It is well understood that Donald Trump is a transactional politician. He sees international affairs as a zero-sum game in which, if one country gains, another must lose. He wants America to gain, and expects other countries to lose, even if they have traditionally been America’s allies. He respects Vladimir Putin because he has invaded a neighbouring country and taken some of what he wants.
The temptation, when dealing with such a crude politician, is to find ways of telling him what he wants to hear. No doubt Sir Keir Starmer will be diplomatic. He can say that Mr Trump is right that European nations should bear more of the burden of the defence of their own continent. This was something that we all knew to be true, and it is unfortunate that we Europeans failed to act on it before the great bully arrived on the scene and forced us to act.
But just because Mr Trump is right about one thing does not mean he is right about anything else. If he says Ukraine started the war, or calls Volodymyr Zelensky a dictator, or claims that the US has given Ukraine more support than European countries, Sir Keir must stand up for the truth and put him right. He must be sure to double down on saying there can be no negotiations about Ukraine without Ukraine.
He may not do it as charmingly but effectively as Emmanuel Macron, the French president, who with a hand on his arm gently corrected Mr Trump when he suggested that European nations had only lent money to Ukraine – not given it. But Sir Keir must not allow falsehoods to go unchallenged.
It is no surprise that Europe has had to reassess its defence spending – and there is good reason why Sir Keir must have the defence of the realm as his key role as prime minister. There is a good argument that he has taken the right stance to increase our defence budget.
It is not completely clear how much has actually been agreed, as there are now question marks over the full amount being offered to the Ministry of Defence. We do have some misgivings about balancing the books “on the backs of some of the poorest people in the world”, in the words of Andrew Mitchell, the Conservative former international development secretary last night speaking in the Commons.
Spending more on defence is necessary – and Sir Keir should take credit for raising defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP. The prime minister has said that he is proud that Britain is playing its part in Europe doing more to defend itself. While some may see this as bowing to the will of the American president, even if that analysis is correct there is no doubt that America is no longer an automatic safeguard for the defence of the realm – and with this dramatic overturning of geopolitical power, the extraordinary spectre of America backing Russia over Europe – this leaves little choice but for us to arm ourselves more expensively, but essentially.
Sir Keir has shown some steel and leadership this week. He has kept his balance while Mr Trump has pulled the rug of geopolitics from under his feet. But in dealing with this transactional president in the White House, Sir Keir must be careful that the seduction of getting advantage from the most powerful nation on earth does not blind him to caution – he must stick to his principles and show courage in this most difficult of diplomatic encounters.
So far, he has done exactly that.
