Two things can be true at the same time. The first is that flattering Donald Trump is a fair price to pay for progress on Ukraine and the protection of British interests. The second is that it makes you feel sick to your stomach.
They really pulled out all the stops this week for the president’s state visit: the largest ever guard of honour, a carriage ride around the estate, a Red Arrows display, a big banquet. All of it utterly absurd, of course, but potentially effective.
Trump will interpret this as recognition of his emperor status. In fact, the deployment of unique honours is not an expression of admiration but its opposite. It’s an indication of how Downing Street believes it can get the president onside – with baubles and theatre and exaggerated ceremonial displays. He is a very stupid man indeed and only a very stupid man could be seduced by these glittering treaties.
Keir Starmer’s position has been clear from the very beginning: sacrifice the things that don’t matter, hold firm on the things that do. If you have to commit to fawning displays of loyalty, so be it. If you have to invite him for a second state visit, go right ahead. Flatter his ego, because it is the route to his heart.
But when it comes to the things that do matter, you hold firm. In exchange for all the symbolism, Starmer has worked hard to keep the US onside on Ukraine and to hammer down tariffs on British industries. It has made sure that the King, who probably has more impact on Trump than the Prime Minister, emphasises No 10’s message. “As tyranny once again threatens Europe,” Charles said during yesterday’s banquet, “we and our allies stand together in support of Ukraine.”
What better route was open to Starmer really? Which alternative was available to him? Together with other European leaders he seems to have kept the Western alliance together and Ukraine equipped with US weapons and technology. Would he have accomplished that if he had snubbed Trump? If he had insulted him? Probably not. You can see figures like JD Vance putting pressure on the president to shut down support for Ukraine. A canny joint effort by European leaders seems to have neutralised that influence – at least for now.
If so, who cares about a bit of embarrassment? Who cares about some national shame, some empty pomp? It’s a good trade if it gets the desired result.
But it still hurts. It is painful to watch our leaders cosy up to him. It digs its way into your heart and plants a seed there. Your rational mind can accept the argument for why we might flatter this man while your heart protests against it.
Trump is not just a political travesty, but a personal one. He is an inversion of our basic notions of decency. He is the negation of everything we value in society, a kind of funhouse mirror of how you would raise a child. It is therefore uniquely painful to watch the King be forced to sing his praises. It is a national humiliation to see this country roll out the red carpet for him.
When we do so, we do not just undermine ourselves politically. We undermine ourselves in our entirety, as moral beings. This is how people will see us now – as supplicants, offering ourselves to anyone who is useful to us, regardless of their constitution.
Nor is this simply a question of pride. It is also a matter of real-world importance. These theatrics are not without consequence.
square JENNIE BOND I know exactly why the Princess of Wales was seated next to Trump
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Right now, across the US, Latin Americans are being herded into detention facilities. They survive crammed into cells, often being forced to urinate on the floor. Others are denied medical treatment. Many are afraid to go out. Their freedoms have been suffocated by the mass deportation programme. This applies to US citizens who happen to be speaking Spanish when ICE rolls into town as much as it does immigrants.
Now, when they look at Britain they will not see a land of freedom. They will not recognise the place Trump described yesterday as a land of “law, liberty, free speech and individual rights”. They’ll see somewhere that stands in league with their brutaliser. Our standing is diminished with the very people who most deserve our support.
The same is true for liberal Americans, whose fight against Trump is undermined when foreign countries placate him in this way. It is true for the nations who have been threatened by Trump – like Canada and Denmark – who must now watch us prostrating ourselves before him. They will not soon forget the lack of solidarity we have demonstrated this week and the tawdry spectacle we have engaged in.
Perhaps, in Starmer’s place, we would all have done the same thing. Perhaps we would prioritise the chance of practical achievement over symbolic resistance. Perhaps it’s even the right thing to do. But by God it smarts.
Ian Dunt is a columnist and author of How to Be a Liberal
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