“Donald Trump is the first US President since World War Two to challenge the role that his country set for itself many decades ago. And he is doing this in such a way that, to many, the old world order appears to be over - and the new world order has yet to take shape.

The question is, which nations will step forward? And, with the security of Europe under greater strain than at any time almost in living memory, can its leaders, who are currently scrabbling around, find an adequate response?”

“When Donald Trump met President Zelensky in New York last September, the then US presidential candidate exuded confidence he could bring the war in Ukraine to an early end. "If we win, I think we're going to get it resolved very quickly," he said.

How quickly he meant varied over time. In a TV debate a few days earlier, Trump had promised he would "get it settled before I even become president". This was an escalation on his previous commitment in May 2023 to stop the fighting in the first 24 hours of his presidency.

Trump has now been in office for more than two months and the penny may be beginning to drop in the White House that trying to end a conflict as bitter and complex as this may take time.”