Above all, don’t be fooled.

Donald Trump might have played the gracious host when he received Sir Keir Starmer in the White House; no doubt the lunch of grilled sea bass and winter green salad was delicious.

Afterwards the Prime Minister was visibly delighted by his victories. The President will allow the British to give away their own territory in the Indian Ocean. He will permit them to fete him on a state visit. He might just exempt Britain from America’s new tariffs, which means keeping our trading arrangements as they are. And Trump thinks the Prime Minister is “terrific” and his wife “beautiful”.

But look beneath the surface and no amount of warmth or hospitality can disguise one hard fact. America is now trying to settle the fate of Europe’s biggest country, Ukraine, in direct talks with Russia from which Ukrainians and all other Europeans are excluded.

We know that Russia will demand that America’s military presence in Europe should be up for debate and these shadowy negotiations could determine the future security of our continent.