Shortly after Keir Starmer arrived in Washington to fight for the future of Europe, two men who make a mockery of everything he stands for touched down on American soil. The toxic YouTube influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate have spent years under investigation in Romania on charges of rape and human trafficking, which they deny, Andrew is now wanted by British police over allegations of rape, and both brothers for tax evasion in this country. But to MAGAworld they are martyrs, unjustly persecuted abroad for the crime of saying what they think on the internet.
Sitting beside Starmer, Trump protested that he knew ‘nothing about’ the Tates’ triumphant homecoming, though it follows reported US diplomatic pressure on the Romanian government to lift its travel ban and Andrew Tate has bragged of his friendship with the president’s son. But it was a small, stark reminder of just how far apart our two continents have become. It’s freedom of speech that reliably seems to galvanise Trumpworld, not the freedom of millions of Europeans to live in peace along Russia’s borders; as the president breezily told his cabinet this week, “we’ll have Europe take care of that”. Yet on the crucial question Starmer brought to Washington - of whether America will in turn take care of its old allies, offering the military backup without which its forces will be dangerously exposed - the best that could be said for Trump’s answer was that it wasn’t the anticipated outright no, and even that may come with trade-related strings attached.
