I’ve just watched a recording of Trump’s address to Congress yesterday. It was billed as 90 minutes long; but about half of that was taken up with clapping, whistles and screaming from the Republican side of the House. (The House of Commons is positively decorous by comparison.) The speech itself was just like his public campaigning speeches: repetitive, boasting, rabble-rousing, full of lies, revengeful, with no serious adumbration of policies, apart from ‘making America great’ (and all the rest) again, and anti-‘woke’ and anti-Biden rants. In other words, it was quintessential Trump. I suppose you can say it was a remarkable performance, especially by a 78 year-old; but that’s all it was – a strong performance. He’s obviously fitter than he looks, and than he ought to be, if what they say about his diet is true. (Burgers and French fries, washed down with Cokes.)

If only we – in Britain – could disengage from Trump’s America! Most of us Europeans are frankly embarrassed by many of the views being expressed by the top people there, such as JD Vance’s latest barb about Britain’s military capability, and his earlier ones about ‘no-go’ areas in London, and people being arrested for praying. And was it he or Trump, or perhaps Musk, who claimed that in a few years Britain would be the next Islamic country with nuclear bombs?

The reaction in the UK to Vance’s reference to Britain as ‘some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years’, was mainly that it was ‘disrespectful’ to our troops; who of course have fought wars over the past forty years, usually in support of the USA, and with substantial casualties. That’s obviously important to you if you regard ‘respect’ highly, as Trump clearly does when he describes Zelensky as having ‘disrespected’ the Oval Office by not wearing a shirt and tie to his meeting with Trump the other day. My main criticism of him and his rich acolytes, however, is of their ignorance, which I regard as far more dangerous – to the world – than their lack of respect; and which no amount of ‘respect’ can compensate for. It’s easy to see whence their falsehoods derive: from Fox News, the right-wing social media, and the last despot Trump has shaken hands with. They clearly don’t read widely, and only take in arguments or supposed ‘facts’ that confirm their prejudices. And that’s what fuels their stated views, and now Trump’s actions; meaning that US policy is now dictated by ‘social media’, in a way I don’t think it ever was before.

And of course Trump has more power than most other heads of state have today, apart from acknowledged dictators; revealed by the way he is wielding ‘executive’ powers that most of us never imagined American presidents possessed. What has become of the ‘separation of powers’ in the USA? Wasn’t that intended to prevent this kind of thing?  Shouldn’t all Trump’s draconian measures have been passed by Congress first? – I did two years of US history at university, so I’m not completely ignorant.  But those studies never prepared me for this.