Ukraine

[Ian Thumwood]

Thinking about the invasion of the Falklands, I wonder whether Margaret Thatcher would have treated Trump differently from the way Starmer did; and in what way. Might make an interesting What If for Drama on 3 ...

This is a good question but I think Trump’s reaction would be more venal. He would want to do a deal with whoever could do the best deal for the oil in the South Atlantic or ports for the US Navy.

I totally agree with disengaging with America whilst Trump is at the helm. They should be considered a hostile state . In my opinion we need to align with Europe , Canada , Australia and New Zealand. I would also encourage closer ties with China to counter American influence in the Pacific.

[Historian]

As I recall the US was trying to "persuade" the UK not to bother to go out to the South Atlantic, but that didn't happen.

The Reagan administration was initially divided on the US response, but then came out firmly in favour of the UK offering crucial Intelligence and logistical support. More here.

[Historian]

... What I do think is in our interest is to cease intelligence sharing. Who knows whose desk it will end up on? The whole of our and Europe's military and defence systems are massively intertwined with America's. This has to be gradually disentangled with some urgency. We do not want to be in a situation where the US can shut them down or refuse parts etc. All of this should have happened long ago but here we are.

The USA's Intelligence efforts are several orders of magnitude greater than the rest of the Europe and the UK put together. The CIA budget alone is greater than the entire UK defence budget.

Despite what is happening currently, it would certainly not be in our national interest to remove ourselves from this system.

[vinteuil]

Vinteuil's Guardian link above suggests differently.

... I don't think so, Serial

.

[Serial_Apologist]

I think you have got the American constitution wrong there - the President gets 4 years whatever, unless he or she dies in office. ** So about 3 years 10 months to go.

** However the President has the option to resign - according to the 25th Amendment. Nixon was the first and only President to have done so.

Vinteuil's Guardian link above suggests differently.

[Dave2002]

Thinking about the invasion of the Falklands, I wonder whether Margaret Thatcher would have treated Trump differently from the way Starmer did; and in what way. Might make an interesting What If for Drama on 3 ...

As I recall the US was trying to "persuade" the UK not to bother to go out to the South Atlantic, but that didn't happen.

[french frank]

Thinking about the invasion of the Falklands, I wonder whether Margaret Thatcher would have treated Trump differently from the way Starmer did; and in what way. Might make an interesting What If for Drama on 3 ...

[teamsaint]

Petition had increased by 8k overnight and was around 60k in the space of a week. 75k target.

I think that Trump will have a massive detrimental effect on US's global influence and China will be the beneficiary. This is the beginning of the end for America and Trump has done sufficient damage to the presidency that it will not recover.

I agree that America now needs to be seen as a hostile nation and would like to US diplomats expelled from UK. The UK belongs with Europe

European commentators tend to have a very poor record on predicting trends in US politics, esp looking at the bigger picture , EG possible breakup of the union . They also have a tendency to underestimate the strength of the constitutional checks and balances.Just as an example, the start of campaigning for the mid terms is just months away.
That said, the US is is certainly looking at a long term decline in its global power and influence. They know this well enough, and its actions, and even those of Trump, might usefully be interpreted through this lens. But they are going to have a lot of clout for a good while to come, and Europe isn’t so very different, given, among many other things, the demographic cliff that is not very far away on this side of the Atlantic, and with which we seem to be dealing extraordinarily badly.

[oddoneout]

The ‘reporter’ who asked Zelensky why he doesn’t wear a suit:

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/pro-trump-reporter-brian-glenn-berates-zelensky-over-his-clothing-in-oval-office-do-you-own-a-suit/

JR

Perhaps he'd heard the Trump welcome to Zelensky on the subject ("Look, he's all dressed up")and thought it would be a good move to follow it up? The irony is that what he was wearing was more formal(black rather than khaki) than his attire to meet King Charles 2 years ago...

[Petrushka]

I think you have got the American constitution wrong there - the President gets 4 years whatever, unless he or she dies in office. ** So about 3 years 10 months to go.

** However the President has the option to resign - according to the 25th Amendment. Nixon was the first and only President to have done so.

Depends upon how much of a fig Trump and Vance give for the Constitution. My guess would be: 'not much'.

[Dave2002]

Hmm not so sure about that, Ian. Trump can only be President for 2 years, second time around, if I've got my American constitution right. Americans seem to have very short historical memories - perhaps not surprising given their history being short - so while this has the disadvantage of their not having enough lessons by our norms to draw from, it does appear to mean that the American voting public has a singular capacity, compared with ours, for changing its collective mind 180 degrees in the opposite direction in the twinkling of an eye.

I think you have got the American constitution wrong there - the President gets 4 years whatever, unless he or she dies in office. ** So about 3 years 10 months to go.

** However the President has the option to resign - according to the 25th Amendment. Nixon was the first and only President to have done so.

[Jazzrook]

The ‘reporter’ who asked Zelensky why he doesn’t wear a suit:

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/pro-trump-reporter-brian-glenn-berates-zelensky-over-his-clothing-in-oval-office-do-you-own-a-suit/

JR

[Serial_Apologist]

Petition had increased by 8k overnight and was around 60k in the space of a week. 75k target.

I think that Trump will have a massive detrimental effect on US's global influence and China will be the beneficiary. This is the beginning of the end for America and Trump has done sufficient damage to the presidency that it will not recover.

I agree that America now needs to be seen as a hostile nation and would like to US diplomats expelled from UK. The UK belongs with Europe

Hmm not so sure about that, Ian. Trump can only be President for 2 years, second time around, if I've got my American constitution right. Americans seem to have very short historical memories - perhaps not surprising given their history being short - so while this has the disadvantage of their not having enough lessons by our norms to draw from, it does appear to mean that the American voting public has a singular capacity, compared with ours, for changing its collective mind 180 degrees in the opposite direction in the twinkling of an eye.

[Petrushka]

Petition had increased by 8k overnight and was around 60k in the space of a week. 75k target.

I think that Trump will have a massive detrimental effect on US's global influence and China will be the beneficiary. This is the beginning of the end for America and Trump has done sufficient damage to the presidency that it will not recover.

I agree that America now needs to be seen as a hostile nation and would like to US diplomats expelled from UK. The UK belongs with Europe

I'm not sure that it's in our national interest for the UK to unilaterally expel US diplomats. What I do think is in our interest is to cease intelligence sharing. Who knows whose desk it will end up on? The whole of our and Europe's military and defence systems are massively intertwined with America's. This has to be gradually disentangled with some urgency. We do not want to be in a situation where the US can shut them down or refuse parts etc. All of this should have happened long ago but here we are.

[Ian Thumwood]

Petition had increased by 8k overnight and was around 60k in the space of a week. 75k target.

I think that Trump will have a massive detrimental effect on US's global influence and China will be the beneficiary. This is the beginning of the end for America and Trump has done sufficient damage to the presidency that it will not recover.

I agree that America now needs to be seen as a hostile nation and would like to US diplomats expelled from UK. The UK belongs with Europe