Tariffs? What tariffs? MPs of both sides hope that if they ignore the trade war it'll go away

Well, that went well, didn't it? Weeks of finding new and ever more ingenious ways to flatter the US president.

- John Crace

Extolling the brilliance of Donald Trump being able to tie his own shoelaces. "That's incredible, Mr President. No one has ever managed to do that so beautifully." No chance for flattery has been passed up. It is now the sign of the highest IQ not to be able to speak in joined-up sentences. To change your mind at a moment's notice.

Yet at all times, Keir Starmer has remained a paragon of obsequiousness. Not a word out of place. And what do we get for it? The occasional hint of recognition from the Donald. Which we cling to. Attempting to find meaning in something essentially meaningless. Something that came with little thought.

And now we are also landed with 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium. A reward for obeisance. That's the thing with Trump. He gets angry if he's disrespected but has nothing but contempt for those who humour him. He's a complicated proposition.