America

Donald Trump has become something of a sole man. His cabinet members and White House visitors report that the President has developed a penchant for handing out $145 (£108) Florsheim shoes in an effort to up their sartorial game. In his Life of Johnson, Boswell reported that Dr. Johnson recoiled at an ‘eleemosynary supply’ of charitably donated shoes as an impecunious student at Christ Church, Oxford, and threw them away with indignation. Trump’s followers have no such freedom of action. ‘All the boys have them,’ one official told The Wall Street Journal, which ran a picture of his administration leaders obediently lined up and wearing the same shiny black leather numbers. Despite Trump’s best efforts, however, the administration

The social media video with which the White House has promoted its attack on Iran is, even by the standards we’ve come to expect from the Trump administration, grotesque on a level that still manages to be flabbergasting. Prefaced in the usual block capitals “JUSTICE THE AMERICAN WAY”, with a flag and flame emoji of the sort favoured by pubescent boys rather than, usually, government agencies, it’s three quarters of a minute of pure brainrot. It isn’t a sign of Trump Derangement Syndrome to consider this video obscene It begins with Tony Stark in front of a bank of computers saying “Wake up. Daddy’s home.”, before launching into a rapid-cut

Britain’s refusal to fully back the United States over strikes on Iran has triggered an unusually public transatlantic row. It has also revived an old question about the future of the so-called ‘special relationship’. When Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, many in Westminster doubted Keir Starmer could build a workable relationship with him. The two men could hardly be more different in temperament or politics, and predictions of an early rupture were widespread. For a time, however, Starmer appeared to defy those expectations. Britain weathered Trump’s latest tariff wars better than most countries, and the Prime Minister seemed to have found a cautious way of managing

Being one of America’s closest allies – which Britain remains – is like having a very rich friend. You are invited to meetings and parties to which you might not otherwise have access, and people listen to you because of your connections. Sometimes, though, your friend will expect a favour in return which you know might make you unpopular with others. It is the quid pro quo. That relationship of unbalanced dependency has come under the spotlight since the United States launched Operation Epic Fury, its latest campaign against the Islamic Republic of Iran, at the weekend. America has an enormous military infrastructure in the Middle East with facilities in

Twenty eight hours or so into the new war against Iran, and America’s Vice President J D Vance has yet to declare his support in public. His social media account on X, which is normally so lively, has been conspicuously silent for the last two days.  He seems keen to position himself apart from the administration’s more ardent hawks when it comes to the Middle East It’s likely that will all change today and Vance, as he did after the Venezuela operation, will take to the airwaves for the big Sunday news shows in order to once again repeat that administration’s line that Donald Trump, the ultimate decider, has boldly

Britain’s relationship with the United States is special. Our ties run deeper than governments, are stronger than personalities and are resilient against ideological fashion. But under Keir Starmer’s leadership, this once unshakeable bilateral partnership is in danger of being profoundly damaged. The truth is that Starmer governs in defiance of Britain’s core interests. From here in America, an alarming realisation is taking hold: that Starmer is the first Prime Minister in memory to treat Atlantic alignment as discretionary, rather than structural. Starmer has chosen to introduce hesitation where instinct once prevailed When Donald Trump moved to restore credible deterrence against Iran’s accelerating nuclear capability, he did so openly and deliberately.

Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, the longest in history, served as a reminder of the relentless will and unstoppable energy he brings to the office of the presidency. In a coup de grace he humiliated Congressional Democrats, securing footage of them remaining seated en masse as they refused to accept that the role of the government is to prioritise American citizens. He gently chastised the Supreme Court judges, assembled in the front row, for declaring his tariff programme unlawful last Friday. Our political right should take heed: for all its roughness, this agenda isn’t going away The President’s opponents may be celebrating the judgment, but the Donald is

It was a banner day for Donald Trump. On Thursday, at the US justice department, a long perpendicular banner with his stern visage was unfurled, proclaiming ‘Make America Safe Again’. And just across from the state department, Trump convened his shiny new Board of Peace at the former US institute of peace, which has a dove-shaped white roof. It was seized in 2025 by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and renamed after Trump. ‘I had no idea,’ Trump said. But for all his disclaimers, Trump was not shy about expressing his delight at the new name that adorned the building’s entrance. A bevy of strongmen, including Vietnam’s general secretary To