The Donald Trump charm offensive began even before he returned to the White House. Weeks before the 2024 presidential election, Sir Keir Starmer and his team had dinner with the maverick Republican at Trump Tower in New York. David Lammy, then the foreign secretary, gushed over how “gracious” his host was – boasting about his generous portion of chicken.

Since Trump came back to power, the Prime Minister has done his best to stick close. He has largely avoided contradicting him even where they profoundly disagree, for example on the President’s repeated threats that he would somehow take over Canada.

Now the “Trump whisperer” strategy looks like it may be falling apart. The global row over Greenland showed there were limits to how far Starmer could go in adhering to the White House line – and war in the Middle East has created what looks like a serious rift, because of the UK’s refusal to join the initial bombing raids on Iran.

Trump has started lashing out at the Prime Minister even when not provoked, comparing him unfavourably with Winston Churchill and slamming his “woke island” deal to hand........

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