The US president is like a five-year-old child with the world as his set of toys: a King Baby. Nothing is ever constant or predictable. What’s agreed one day can be forgotten the next.
Any deal can be interrupted with a temper tantrum at any time. Trying to second-guess Donald Trump is a fool’s errand. So the primary aim of Andy Burnham’s first face-to-face meeting with Trump was to get out alive with his – and the UK’s – self-respect intact.
To take no incoming damage. And whatever he did, not to offer the president a third state visit. Keir Starmer never really lived that one down.
Putting out on the first date only encourages the other person to think you’re a pushover. The hoped-for result was a pleasant and almost forgettable bilateral meeting at the United Nations general assembly in New York. It was only scheduled to last 30 minutes, so more like speed dating – one step up from two world leaders shooting the breeze while getting to know each other.
Where differences could be acknowledged without causing a major diplomatic incident. All of which falls pretty comfortably within Burnham’s skill set. Andy’s stock in trade is an easy-going self-confidence.
He’s comfortable in his skin in a way that Keir never was. Or maybe the artifice is just better concealed. He understands that trash-talking is all in a day’s work for most politicians.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
