When I was young the Donald I associated with America was the duck. These days it’s Trump. That makes me wonder which of the two is more representative of this powerful nation?

Georges Clemenceau, who was prime minister of France both before and after the First World War, thought of America in not dissimilar terms. He’s reputed to have said ‘America is the only country in the world to have progressed from barbarism to decadence without experiencing the intervening stage of civilization.’ I wonder what he would have made of Trump?

The incredible, if not unbelievable, spat that has broken out between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky is not just unedifying but also an interesting illustration of the American President’s behaviour. But to understand what happened on Friday you need to go back to events since January.

Donald Trump called Zelensky a “dictator” who’s done “a terrible job”. He claims Zelensky only has 4% support even though Ukraine’s own polls insist it’s 57%. The 4% figure, Zelensky says, is Russian........

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