{"id":28491,"date":"2025-09-07T02:51:54","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T06:51:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/one-by-one-leaders-learn-that-grovelling-to-trump-leads-to-disaster-when-will-it-dawn-on-starmer-simon-tisdall\/"},"modified":"2025-09-07T02:51:54","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T06:51:54","slug":"one-by-one-leaders-learn-that-grovelling-to-trump-leads-to-disaster-when-will-it-dawn-on-starmer-simon-tisdall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/one-by-one-leaders-learn-that-grovelling-to-trump-leads-to-disaster-when-will-it-dawn-on-starmer-simon-tisdall\/","title":{"rendered":"One by one, leaders learn that grovelling to Trump leads to disaster. When will it dawn on Starmer? | Simon Tisdall"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n<\/p>\n

S<\/span>ucking up to Donald Trump never works for long. Narendra Modi is the latest world leader to learn this lesson the hard way. Wooing his \u201ctrue friend\u201d in the White House, India\u2019s authoritarian prime minister thought he\u2019d conquered Trump\u2019s inconstant heart. The two men hit peak pals in 2019, holding hands at a \u201cHowdy Modi\u201d rally in Texas. But it\u2019s all gone pear-shaped <\/a>thanks to Trump\u2019s tariffs and dalliance with Pakistan. Like a jilted lover on the rebound, Modi shamelessly threw himself at Vladimir Putin in China last week. Don and Narendra! It\u2019s over! Although, to be honest, it always felt a little shallow.<\/p>\n

Other suitors for Trump\u2019s slippery hand have suffered similar heartbreak. France\u2019s Emmanuel Macron turned on the charm, feting him at the grand reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral. But Trump cruelly dumped him after they argued over Gaza, calling him<\/a> a publicity-seeker who \u201calways gets it wrong\u201d. The EU\u2019s Ursula von der Leyen, desperate for a tete-a-tete, flew to Trump\u2019s Scottish golf course to pay court. Result: perhaps the most humiliating, lopsided trade deal since imperial Britain\u2019s 19th-century \u201cunequal treaties\u201d with Peking\u2019s dragon throne.<\/p>\n

The list of broken pledges and dashed hopes is lengthy. Relationships between states normally pivot on power, policy and strategic interests. But with faithless, fickle Trump, it\u2019s always personal \u2013 and impermanent. Disconcertingly, he told Mexico\u2019s impressive president, Claudia Sheinbaum<\/a>, that he \u201clikes her very much\u201d \u2013 then threatened to invade her country, ostensibly in pursuit of drug cartels. Leaders from Canada, Germany, Japan, South Korea and South Africa have all attempted to ingratiate themselves, to varying degrees. They still haven\u2019t fared well.<\/p>\n

All this should set red lights flashing for Britain\u2019s Keir Starmer ahead of Trump\u2019s state visit in 10 days\u2019 time. The prime minister\u2019s unedifying Trump-whisperer act has produced little benefit to date, at high reputational cost. Starmer apparently believes his handling of the US relationship is a highlight of his first year in office. Yet Trump ignores his Gaza ceasefire pleas and opposes UK recognition of a Palestinian state. He hugely boosted Putin, Britain\u2019s nemesis, with his half-baked Alaska summit. US security guarantees for postwar Ukraine are more mirage than reality. His steel tariffs and protectionist policies continue to hurt UK workers.<\/p>\n

His second state visit is an appalling prospect. The honour is utterly undeserved. It\u2019s obvious what Trump will gain: a royal endorsement<\/a>, a chance to play at being King Donald, a privileged platform from which to deliver his corrosive, divisive populist-nationalist diatribes at a moment of considerable social fragility in the US and UK. Polls suggest many Britons strongly oppose the visit; and most don\u2019t trust the US<\/a>.<\/em> So what Starmer thinks he will gain is a mystery. The fleeting goodwill of a would-be dictator who is dismantling US democracy and wrecking the global laws-based order championed by the UK is a poor return.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Donald Trump holds up a photograph Putin gave him in the White House on 22 August 2025.<\/span> Photograph: Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

As he demands homage from abject subjects, this spectacle will confirm the UK in the eyes of the world as a lackey state, afraid to stand up for its values. Starmer\u2019s government is now so morally confused that it refuses to acknowledge that Israel, fully backed by Trump, is committing genocide in Gaza, while at the same time making the wearing of a pro-Palestine T-shirt a terrorist<\/a> act. The Trump travesty will be an embarrassment, signalling a further descent into colonial subservience. As next year\u2019s 250th anniversary of US independence approaches, the chronically unhealthy \u201cspecial relationship\u201d has finally come full circle.<\/p>\n

Not everyone is genuflecting to Trump \u2013 and evidence mounts that resistance, not grovelling, is by far the best way to handle this schoolyard bully. Modi\u2019s geopolitical fling in China showed he\u2019s learned that when dealing with Trump, firm resolve, supported by alternative options, is the better policy. Last week\u2019s defiant speech by China\u2019s leader, Xi Jinping, reflected a similar realisation. Both he and Putin have discovered that when they dig their heels in, whether the issue is Ukraine, trade or sanctions, Trump backs off. Xi has adopted an uncompromising stance from the start. Putin uses flattery, skilfully manipulating Trump\u2019s frail ego. The result is the same. Like cowards the world over, Trump respects strength because he\u2019s weak. So he caves.<\/p>\n

The bigger the wolf, the more sheepishly Trump responds. Israel\u2019s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, like Putin, an indicted war criminal, has shown that by sticking to his guns (literally, in his case), he can face down Trump. More than that, Trump can be co-opted. After Netanyahu attacked Iran in June, against initial US advice, he induced the White House to join in \u2013 although, contemptibly, Trump only did so once he was certain who was winning. Then, typically, he claimed credit for a bogus world-changing victory. North Korea\u2019s dictator, Kim Jong-un, similarly bamboozled<\/a> Trump during his first term. Having learned nothing, and nursing his implausible <\/strong>Nobel peace prize ambitions, Trump is again raising the prospect of unconditional engagement with Kim.<\/p>\n

Brazil\u2019s president Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva has the right idea. The more Trump tries to bully him with 50% tariffs and a barrage of criticism, the more he resists. Trump is particularly exercised over the fate of Jair Bolsonaro, Lula\u2019s hard-right predecessor, who, like Trump, mounted a failed electoral coup. But Lula is not having any of it. \u201cIf the United States doesn\u2019t want to buy [from us], we will find new partners,\u201d he said. \u201cThe world is big, and it\u2019s eager to do business with Brazil.\u201d<\/p>\n

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That\u2019s the spirit! And guess what? Lula\u2019s poll ratings<\/a> are soaring. Wake up, Keir Starmer \u2013 and dump Trump.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sucking up to Donald Trump never works for long. Narendra Modi is the latest world leader to learn this lesson the hard way. Wooing his \u201ctrue friend\u201d in the White House, India\u2019s authoritarian prime minister thought he\u2019d conquered Trump\u2019s inconstant heart. The two men hit peak pals in 2019, holding hands at a \u201cHowdy Modi\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28492,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/2138724f27069579364ef3850a1dbe646caa3ce1\/680_194_6347_5077\/master\/6347.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctb3BpbmlvbnMucG5n&enable=upscale&s=cc5ef90be8f1700730cd795fac84deee","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10666],"tags":[3550,1649,18757,3874,2743,13410,4211,3349,18758,473],"class_list":["post-28491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reparations","tag-dawn","tag-disaster","tag-grovelling","tag-leaders","tag-leads","tag-learn","tag-simon","tag-starmer","tag-tisdall","tag-trump"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/2138724f27069579364ef3850a1dbe646caa3ce1\/680_194_6347_5077\/master\/6347.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctb3BpbmlvbnMucG5n&enable=upscale&s=cc5ef90be8f1700730cd795fac84deee",0,0,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/2138724f27069579364ef3850a1dbe646caa3ce1\/680_194_6347_5077\/master\/6347.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctb3BpbmlvbnMucG5n&enable=upscale&s=cc5ef90be8f1700730cd795fac84deee",0,0,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/2138724f27069579364ef3850a1dbe646caa3ce1\/680_194_6347_5077\/master\/6347.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctb3BpbmlvbnMucG5n&enable=upscale&s=cc5ef90be8f1700730cd795fac84deee",0,0,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/2138724f27069579364ef3850a1dbe646caa3ce1\/680_194_6347_5077\/master\/6347.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctb3BpbmlvbnMucG5n&enable=upscale&s=cc5ef90be8f1700730cd795fac84deee",150,150,false],"medium":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/2138724f27069579364ef3850a1dbe646caa3ce1\/680_194_6347_5077\/master\/6347.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctb3BpbmlvbnMucG5n&enable=upscale&s=cc5ef90be8f1700730cd795fac84deee",300,300,false],"large":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/2138724f27069579364ef3850a1dbe646caa3ce1\/680_194_6347_5077\/master\/6347.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctb3BpbmlvbnMucG5n&enable=upscale&s=cc5ef90be8f1700730cd795fac84deee",1024,1024,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/2138724f27069579364ef3850a1dbe646caa3ce1\/680_194_6347_5077\/master\/6347.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctb3BpbmlvbnMucG5n&enable=upscale&s=cc5ef90be8f1700730cd795fac84deee",1536,1536,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/2138724f27069579364ef3850a1dbe646caa3ce1\/680_194_6347_5077\/master\/6347.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctb3BpbmlvbnMucG5n&enable=upscale&s=cc5ef90be8f1700730cd795fac84deee",2048,2048,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/2138724f27069579364ef3850a1dbe646caa3ce1\/680_194_6347_5077\/master\/6347.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctb3BpbmlvbnMucG5n&enable=upscale&s=cc5ef90be8f1700730cd795fac84deee",370,265,false],"kava-thumb-s":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/2138724f27069579364ef3850a1dbe646caa3ce1\/680_194_6347_5077\/master\/6347.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctb3BpbmlvbnMucG5n&enable=upscale&s=cc5ef90be8f1700730cd795fac84deee",150,85,false],"kava-thumb-s-2":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/2138724f27069579364ef3850a1dbe646caa3ce1\/680_194_63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NEWS<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Sucking up to Donald Trump never works for long. Narendra Modi is the latest world leader to learn this lesson the hard way. Wooing his \u201ctrue friend\u201d in the White House, India\u2019s authoritarian prime minister thought he\u2019d conquered Trump\u2019s inconstant heart. The two men hit peak pals in 2019, holding hands at a \u201cHowdy Modi\u201d…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28491"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28493,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28491\/revisions\/28493"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}