Feb 27 2025 46 mins 7
Whispering in Donald Trump's ear is no easy task: just ask Emmanuel Macron. Despite Monday's "broshakes", flattery and mild reproaches, the US still sided with Russia and North Korea on Ukraine at the UN. Maybe one meeting wasn’t enough. Now it's Keir Starmer's turn, and his job might be even tougher. Trump prefers presidents and kings, and post-Brexit Britain is in a tighter financial bind than even deficit-happy France. In a sign of the times, the British prime minister is proposing to fund increased defence spending by cutting international aid.
Keir Starmer is taking a sober approach, stressing that a US backstop remains crucial for European defence. But do citizens on either side of the Channel have the appetite to pay more for security amid warming ties between Trump and Putin? And how will the next visitor to the Oval Office fare?
That will be Volodymyr Zelensky, who the US has told to sign on the dotted line for a minerals deal with Washington on Friday. What exactly the Ukrainian president will get in exchange remains unclear.
Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Guillaume Gougeon and Ilayda Habip.
