It felt like modern politics unplugged.
There’s no easy choreography at a presidential news conference inside the Oval Office – take Donald Trump’s unveiling of the UK-US trade deal.
There was the president flanked by deal negotiators on either side, a ‘shoulders-back’ Team America with Peter Mandelson, UK ambassador, standing as the Brit in the line-up.
JD Vance, Donald Trump and Peter Mandelson in the Oval Office. Pic: Reuters
So far, so presentational.
But then there was the cast member who joined remotely. Britain’s prime minister was dialled into the phone on the Resolute Desk but was kept on hold while the president made an opening statement lasting several minutes – hanging on the telephone while an audience hung on Trump’s big reveal.
When the PM’s moment duly came, it came out of the speaker.
For the deal they said was huge in scale and significance, it was an awkward spectacle. A president trumpeting success, the prime minister on his penny whistle.
There followed a ‘Keir/Donald’ conversation in which both men heartily congratulated each other and heartily endorsed the transatlantic alliance – past, present and trade deal.
Sir Keir Starmer speaks to the US president over the phone. Pic: PA
It was a result Donald Trump needed and it showed.
Gone was the testy demeanour of recent days, the president who’d grown impatient with questions about deals not signed.
This was the freewheeling Donald Trump, who took questions for more than an hour, buoyed at breaking his duck.
It was never going to be the perfect deal for either side.
By the side of the president’s desk, his staff had placed a board that outlined some of the key figures. Top right was 10% – the baseline US tariff won’t change and that won’t please the UK.
Then there’s chlorinated chicken. For years, Britain has bent over backwards to prevent it being served on its dinner tables.
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Expect it to bend some more – the Americans made it clear at this news conference that it’s not something they’re ready to let go.
This deal signifies progress between the old allies, but it comes with a percentage loss.
