Donald Trump is not impressed by soft power. He respects hard men with military muscle. But he can be moved by pageantry, which is the purpose of King Charles’s visit to Washington this week. Trump is flattered to rub shoulders with majesty. The good vibes are then supposed to radiate warmth through a political relationship that has been chilled by the war in Iran.

It might work, but not for long. Trump’s irritation with Keir Starmer and other European leaders for what he calls cowardice in the Middle East is aggravated daily by evidence that the war is a strategic calamity.

The president seems incapable of admitting fault or conceding that an adversary has outsmarted him. Blaming Nato freeloaders is an attractive alternative to taking responsibility for the mess he has made.

The vengeful mood in Washington was revealed in a leaked Pentagon memo suggesting the US could oppose Britain’s claim to the Falkland Islands. Trump has threatened to bin UK-US trade deals and impose new tariffs.

This sharpens the focus on something that was already pretty clear. The current White House administration doesn’t do alliances, except on the model of a protection racket. The price is paid in sovereignty: let the boss use your military bases; drop taxes and regulations for his cronies’ businesses; give him Greenland. He doesn’t like to be told no.

Adapting to this mercenary approach has not been easy for Britain. The asymmetry of power is familiar, but there is a difference between the US as domineering sibling and imperial master.

More alarming still is the way this imbalance grows in a world where the US, spurred by rivalry with China, is pulling away from Europe in terms of technological power.

That concern was raised in a speech yesterday by Liz Kendall, the science, innovation and technology secretary. She argued that AI is the “currency of the........

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