Trump's sabre-rattling leaves the world a more dangerous place
We should take Donald Trump seriously, but not literally, said Labour grandee Dame Emily Thornberry, referring to some of the US president's more bellicose pronouncements in recent weeks.
Well President Trump's latest bout of sabre rattling demonstrates that he certainly has to be taken seriously, if only because of the destabilising threat he poses to world peace.
In his book The Art of the Deal, Trump coined the term 'truthful hyperbole', which he described as a harmless sort of exaggeration which formed part of the negotiation process.
So when he talked about ending the war in Ukraine in 24 hours - later extended to 100 days - it seemed reasonable to think that it was just a bit of rhetoric to bring people round the negotiating table.
But following the President's bellicose interventions over the past few days, it appears we might have to start taking Trump literally after all.
In his latest outburst, President Trump has described Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a dictator, suggested he was somehow to blame for Russia's invasion of his country, and accuses him of prolonging the conflict by not capitulating to Russia's demands. This is an extraordinary for the supposed leader of the free world.
It also leaves the leaders of Europe, including the UK, between a rock and a hard place. Trump is right when he says that many countries in Europe, which stand to lose the most from Russian aggression, have not been paying their way in Nato, taking it for granted that the US will pick up the tab. At the same time, Trump's' apparent willingness to throw Ukraine to the wolves in order to appease a murderous tyrant cannot be seen as anything but disastrous.
All this leaves Sir Keir Starmer in an unenviable position. The one ray of hope is that it has not been unknown for Trump to change his mind if he can be convinced it is in his country's - and his own - interest. If Sir Keir can bridge the Atlantic divide, cajoling our European allies to step up to the mark, and persuading Trump that it is Russia, and not Ukraine that is the aggressor, then it could be the making of his so-far lacklustre time in office.
One thing is for sure. The world was a dangerous place last week. And it has just become considerably more so.