Is Donald Trump more king than president?
The US economy has shrunk for the first time in three years, but President Donald Trump is blaming his predecessor, Joe Biden, for the country's poor economic performance at the start of the year.
Sky's US correspondents Martha Kelner and Mark Stone discuss the impact a struggling economy could have on Trump's popularity.
Plus, as Mr Trump holds another fawning meeting of his cabinet, are comparisons to a king at court becoming more accurate?
If you've got a question you'd like the Trump100 team to answer, you can email it to trump100@sky.uk.
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Telegraph
22 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Trump is telling the truths Europe's leaders won't
The most important skill in European politics is the ability to pretend that all is well. In London, Paris, Berlin and a dozen other capitals, the order of the day is continuing the series of polite lies that exculpate a generation of politicians from bearing responsibility for their failures. Things that intrude on this bubble – videos of protests circulating online, the views of the electorate, writers who draw attention to the catastrophic consequences of a toxic combination of welfarism and open borders – are censored, ignored or threatened with legal action. Donald Trump's occasional forays into European affairs have much the same effect on the political class as a stick of dynamite chucked into a lake does on fish. His comments are followed by floundering, gasping, and goggle-eyed outrage. They are not met with actual rebuttal. With Europe engaged in a project of total self-delusion, it has fallen to the American president to tell us the truths we are unwilling to tell ourselves. For all Mr Trump's failings, he is rarely accused of being insufficiently blunt. And on Europe, he has a regrettable tendency to be correct. While our politicians wring their hands over vast numbers of economic migrants abusing an outdated asylum system, attempting to square the circle of an open borders approach to migration, generous welfare states, and hopelessly outdated laws and treaties, Mr Trump is free to state what he sees: 'You better get your act together or you're not going to have Europe anymore.' It is a view that will resonate with voters across the continent. The great weakening of Europe's borders has been unfolding for a decade now, since German chancellor Angela Merkel crumpled when confronted with a crying child and attempted to reshape her country around the slogan 'wir schaffen das': 'we can do this'. Political will, however, was not sufficient to change reality on its own. The cultural costs have not been negligible. Nor have the economic consequences, particularly alongside other flawed policies. The costs of net zero continue to mount, with politicians seemingly eager to dismantle Europe's industrial base in a fit of moral fervour. When Mr Trump tells Sir Keir Starmer that Britain should go against this consensus and drill for the oil in the North Sea, or objects to the 'detrimental' effect of windfarms on the 'beauty of Scotland', he is articulating the views of millions of British voters. That they are unpopular in Westminster means that these criticisms are frequently ignored or overruled. It does not mean that they are untrue. Indeed, it is often the truth of Mr Trump's statements that triggers the most furious backlash against them. When he says Europeans risk 'losing their wonderful right to freedom of speech', or his vice-president J D Vance criticises 'digital censorship ', the criticisms sting because they are clearly correct, and all the more so contrasted against attempts to rebut them. When the French mission to the UN asserted that 'in Europe, one is free to speak, not free to spread illegal content' – a statement that would have been just as true of the Soviet Union – the official State Department account responded by pointing out the only true effect was to protect Europe's 'leaders from their own people'. It is hard to disagree with this sentiment. It is difficult, too, to disagree with Trump's blunt statement that recognising a Palestinian state 'doesn't matter '. French president Emmanuel Macron has declared that France will join Spain and Ireland in this policy. As Mr Trump says, however, it is a statement that 'doesn't carry weight', and is 'not going to change anything'. In this, it is a perfect summary of Europe's travails. Political leaders who have squandered the legacies they were handed still behave as if the world hangs upon their word, even as events overtake them. Gesture policies like state recognition are thrown out without any thought as to their actual effect or practicality. What does it mean to recognise a Palestinian state in an area controlled by Hamas? How is this policy meant to assist in quelling the fanatical opposition amongst Palestinian elites to any Jewish state in the Middle East, or for that matter the presence of any other minority? In what sense is rewarding Hamas's butchering and raping of Israeli civilians meant to have any effect other than prolonging this bloody conflict? Mr Trump is not always right. His protectionist trade policy is a catastrophic misstep. He was similarly disastrously wrong on Ukraine, and it is by good fortune rather than design that his ham-fisted attempts to force Kyiv into a terrible deal failed. There, Europe's leaders were for once in the right. The difference is that Mr Trump appears to have realised the error of his ways, and shifted his policies accordingly. To date, this has only once occurred in the other direction. It is clearly for the good that Europe is coming round to Mr Trump's views on defence, with Nato pledging to raise defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP after pressure from the White House, implicitly affirming the truth of his statement that the continent had been 'freeloading'. This was not cheap but it was necessary. We must now hope that similar reversals will follow in other fields, before irreparable damage is done.
Rhyl Journal
24 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
Security operation under way on first full day of Trump's visit to Scotland
The President is expected to take to the greens on the golf course at the Trump Turnberry resort, which he bought back in 2014. Ahead of that, a large number of police and military personnel have been spotted searching the grounds at the venue in South Ayrshire. Various road closures have been put in place, with limited access for both locals and members of the media. Mr Trump is staying at Turnberry for the start of a five-day private visit to Scotland which will see him have talks with both UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Scottish First Minister John Swinney. A meeting has also been scheduled for him to talk about trade with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday. With no talks apparently scheduled for Saturday, the President – a well-known golf enthusiast – appears to be free to play the famous Turnberry course. However, protests have been planned, with opponents of Mr Trump expected to gather in both Edinburgh and Aberdeen later on Saturday, with the Stop Trump coalition planning what it has described as being a 'festival of resistance'. As well as visiting Trump Turnberry, Mr Trump will head to Aberdeenshire later in his visit and is expected to open a second course at his golf resort in Balmedie. As he landed in Ayrshire on Friday, the President took questions from journalists, telling Europe to 'get your act together' on immigration, which he said was 'killing' the continent. He also praised Sir Keir, who he described as a 'good man', but added that the UK Prime Minister is 'slightly more liberal than I am'. Saturday will be the first real test of Police Scotland during the visit as it looks to control the demonstrations in Aberdeen and Edinburgh, as well as any which spring up near to the president's course. The force has asked for support from others around the UK to bolster officer numbers, with both organisations representing senior officers and the rank-and-file claiming there is likely to be an impact on policing across the country for the duration of the visit. Before the visit started, Mr Swinney appealed to Scots to protest 'peacefully and within the law'.
Glasgow Times
25 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Donald Trump goes golfing as protesters speak out against his visit to Scotland
Tight security around the Trump Turnberry course meant no demonstrators were seen when the president took to the greens on Saturday morning. Dressed in black, with a white cap that said USA on it, Mr Trump could be seen driving a golf buggy, flanked by a fleet of security personnel, as he played on the famous course which he bought in 2014. The outspoken Republican waved to journalists at one point, with hits including Billy Joel's Uptown Girl and Elaine Paige's rendition of Memory from the musical Cats heard playing from his entourage. But when asked about links to disgraced paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, the Simon and Garfunkel hit Bridge Over Troubled Water could be heard. However hundreds gathered in both Edinburgh and Aberdeen – near the site of Mr Trump's other Scottish golf resort – to make their opposition to the president known. As the visit got under way Scottish First Minister John Swinney – who is due to hold talks with the president later in the trip – announced public money to support a tournament at the Trump International golf links in Aberdeenshire. The 2025 Nexo Championship – previously known as the Scottish Championship – is set to take place there next month, supported by £180,000 of public funding. The US president was surrounded by security as he took to the course (Robert Perry/PA) Mr Swinney said: 'The Scottish Government recognises the importance and benefits of golf and golf events, including boosting tourism and our economy.' But Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie likened the awarding of public cash to the tournament to 'handing some pocket money to the school bully'. Mr Trump will head to his golf resort in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire later on in his five-day long private visit. As part of his trip he will also hold talks with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, where the two men will refine a trade deal between the UK and the US that was agreed earlier this year. The president is also expected to talk trade with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday. Police officers and military personnel were seen earlier searching the grounds around Trump Turnberry (Robert Perry/PA) But with no talks apparently scheduled for Saturday, the president, who is well known for his love of golf, was free to take to the famous course at Turnberry. A major security operation surrounded him, with police officers and military personnel seen scouring the grounds ahead of Mr Trump teeing off. After touching down in Scotland in Air Force One on Friday night, the president was seen on the course at Turnberry on Saturday morning – although security fencing had also been erected around the resort, with road closures also in place to help protect Mr Trump, who last year survived an assassination attempt. Sniffer dogs were seen patrolling the golf course, with the Navy carrying out sweeps in the water beside the seaside course, while Army vehicles were spotted on the nearby A77 road. Police Scotland has asked for support from other forces across the UK to bolster officer numbers for the high profile visit – with Mr Swinney appealing to people to protest 'peacefully and within the law'. Protesters at the Stop Trump coalition organised a demonstration in Edinburgh (Jane Barlow/PA) In Aberdeen Green north east Scotland MSP Maggie Chapman told the crowd of hundreds: 'We stand in solidarity not only against Trump but against everything he and his politics stand for.' Speaking about the US president, Ms Chapman said: 'He believes that climate change isn't real, he believes that cutting services for those in the world with the least is the right thing to do. 'We say no to all of those things, not in our name, never in our name.' With Mr Trump having last year been convicted by a New York jury of falsifying business records, she said the president was a 'convicted felon'. And she told the PA news agency: 'He is not welcome in Scotland, he is certainly not welcome in Aberdeenshire. 'We know that he is a convicted felon. Green MSP Maggie Chapman addressed protesters in Aberdeen (Nick Forbes/PA) 'We also know that all of the promises he has repeatedly made to Scotland have come to nothing, there hasn't been the development of jobs or houses that he promised when he opened his course in Aberdeenshire a few years ago.' Mr Harvie was also critical of the president, telling PA: 'He's attacking our renewables industry once again, one of the success stories of Scotland, and he is trying to attack and undermine it. 'And that is after having trashed part of our natural environment on the Aberdeenshire coast to build his golf resort.' Anita Bhadani was one of those who organised the Stop Trump Coalition protest outside the US Consulate General's office in Edinburgh. She told PA: 'We are really excited, across this whole weekend, there's so many campaign groups turning out in the streets, tacking in action in their communities or at rallies like this – it's kind of like a carnival of resistance.' She said Mr Trump's 'huge promises' of creating thousands of jobs through development around his Scottish golf courses had not come to pass. A number of speakers addressed the crowd, condemning President Trump, including one who chanted 'death to the IDF'.
