{"text":[[{"start":5.15,"text":"“I am sure we can get along if he doesn’t try to give me too much soft soap,” Harry S Truman said of Winston Churchill. Soft soap (flattery) has been Britain’s lubricant for the “special relationship” since Churchill took office in 1940. It is also Sir Keir Starmer’s preferred balm, which is just as well because Donald Trump is no Truman. Flattery is mandatory with Trump, although it only gets you so far. Think of it as the entrance fee to a club that charges a bomb for the house soda."}],[{"start":38.589999999999996,"text":"Is that soda worth it? The question has arisen most urgently in countries like Canada and India, which are taking the worst of Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs and remain puzzled as to why. Britain was the first country to strike a trade deal with Trump and at the lowest tariff of 10 per cent. That in itself was a minor coup. Starmer might this week also get a tariff exemption on Scottish whisky. As ego massages go, Britain could feel vindicated in its tactics."}],[{"start":72.78,"text":"But there is something odd about a special relationship where dodging bullets counts as a win. Britain also seems to be in some confusion about the meaning of Trump’s anglophilia. Trump likes Britain in the same way that he seems to disdain Africa. Some countries are “shitholes” in Trump’s view and others are not. Britain appears to feature high up in the latter category."}],[{"start":100.21000000000001,"text":"What draws Trump to the UK is ancestral — his mother was Scottish. He is also dazzled by the monarchy’s class. Staying at Windsor Castle is the ultimate in insider credentials."}],[{"start":115,"text":"That Trump is the first US president to be given two state visits to Britain is also a bragging point. Richard Nixon had none. Ronald Reagan had one. Starmer underlined that “unprecedented” feature when he handed Trump the royal invitation in February."}],[{"start":134.98,"text":"But love of British royalty should not be confused with respect for the country’s political system. It does explain why Britain is one of the few foreign democracies about which Trump often says nice things. That Trump also loves the Gulf monarchies ought to drive that point home. So does Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney getting King Charles III to open Canada’s parliament in May. With Trump, the royal card counts for something. But not that much."}],[{"start":164.57999999999998,"text":"Take Qatar, which unlike the UK, can offer Trump all the emoluments he wants. This includes the gift of a luxury Boeing jet, hundreds of billions of dollars in pledged US investments, hosting America’s biggest Middle East air base and mediation services in aid of Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize ambitions. None of that stopped Israel’s missile strikes on Qatar last week. Trump claimed not to have known about the Israeli missiles, which remains a matter of debate."}],[{"start":197.46999999999997,"text":"Britain’s myopia is to fail to see past the short-term relief of pacifying Trump. In March, Carney said “We are masters in our own house”. Canada’s leader set out how the US-led global economy was a thing of the past and that Canada must forge new relationships. India’s Narendra Modi now talks of a “multi-aligned” foreign policy. Both are forms of hedging that try to minimise Trump’s ire today to buy space for longer-term arrangements with others. There is little sign of Starmer acting similarly."}],[{"start":234.71999999999997,"text":"Trump’s gratitude will be to the king, not the prime minister. Starmer’s temptation will be to echo his predecessors in talking of Britain and America’s shared values. But that would be a polite fiction. In reality, Trump shares values with Nigel Farage, leader of Britain’s Reform party and the man who wants Starmer’s job."}],[{"start":257.45,"text":"On Trump’s first UK state visit in 2019 he went out of his way to undermine Theresa May, Britain’s then prime minister, by talking up Boris Johnson, who had just resigned from her government. Readers will have decided for themselves whether the replacement of May’s softer Brexit with Johnson’s hard one served Britain’s economic interests."}],[{"start":281.93,"text":"The ghost of a Maga Britain will be stalking Trump’s state dinner. Though Elon Musk has fallen out with the president, he was speaking for both when he addressed the UK Maga right’s Unite the Kingdom rally in London last Saturday. “Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you,” Musk said. “You either fight back or you die.” The late Charlie Kirk, whose memorial Trump will attend on his return, called Britain a “totalitarian third world hellhole”. Among Maga influencers it is common to talk of Britain’s coming civil war."}],[{"start":317.43,"text":"By all means, Britain should deliver fruits to the Trumpian volcano. But it would also be wise not to live in its shadow. "}],[{"start":333.55,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftmailbox.cn/album/a_1758068133_2128.mp3"}