The president doesn't respect the sycophants. I think he admires the people that stand up to him more than people actually expect. He speaks to Mark Carney more now as a result of Prime Minister Carney's toughness than ever before. He doesn't believe in a team of rivals approach like Abraham Lincoln. He's sort of in a hall of mirrors. He wants everybody in the room to reflect what he is and what he does. You know, he knows that he's not well-liked in Washington and he knows there's not going to be a lot of monuments to him when he leaves. And so, this is why he's trying to make these monuments for himself. I don't think anybody else in that party can carry the mantle of that MAGA leadership the way Donald Trump can.
King Charles is in the United States at a time when the UK-US relationship has never been more strained really. What do you make of the tension between the two nations?
I'm thinking the War of 1812 was probably a slightly little bit more strain, but I'm getting your point. Yes. The president, President Trump, has made this an unnecessary strain in our relationship. And I think King Charles frankly has done a wonderful job as a diplomat and a person that I think the country, the UK, should feel very proud of in terms of the way he handles himself. And I think it's a great softening for that relationship. And I predict that you'll see that relationship soften and get better as a result of this trip.
For how long though? I mean, could it be a temporary softening and then when King Charles leaves then it goes back to how it has been?
Well, I think it will be temporary unfortunately because that's the nature of the president. So I think that part of it is predictable, but I think there's an interesting thing going on at the same time where the prime minister is basically expressing his distance from some of the president's policies, particularly the Iran war policies, etc. And I think that's also good for the country. Because I think the British citizens, from what I can tell, and I do spend a lot of time in the country, are upset about the war and they're also upset about the president's actions. And so I often say that Prime Minister Carney of Canada understands President Trump the best. And I think Prime Minister Starmer moving closer to that direction of relationship development with President Trump is probably best for everybody. And last point, I think this is the most important one. The president doesn't respect the sycophants. I think he admires the people that stand up to him more than people actually expect. And I know this for a fact. He speaks to Mark Carney more now as a result of Prime Minister Carney's toughness than ever before.
That is so interesting. So because of the kind of approach Prime Minister Carney has taken towards Trump, and he hasn't pulled his punches, has he? Actually, it's enhanced their relationship.
I think it has and I think the president respects Carney for it.
Okay. So, is Keir Starmer in your view along the right lines? Could he go further?
He's moving in the right direction. You know, I would just say to the prime minister, if you need to stiffen your spine, pick up the phone and call Mark Carney and have him be your life coach through this because I think Prime Minister Carney really understands what's necessary in terms of handling President Trump. And again, the king is in a totally different position. You know, he is a figure for the country and he's a great diplomat and he has a great touch with President Trump. I think he did a brilliant job in the state dinner that he hosted. I'm sure he'll do a brilliant job at the state dinner that he is now the guest at. But the prime minister is in a different role. So I like the juxtaposition where the king is a softening agent but Prime Minister Starmer is sort of toughening his stance towards the president.
Okay. The Financial Times is publishing a story today in which it says the UK's new ambassador in Washington, Sir Christian Turner, was quoted in private remarks back in February to sixth form students saying this: 'I think there is probably one country that has a special relationship with the United States and that is probably Israel.' What do you make of those comments?
Well, I mean, I read the article and so it was probably an off-the-cuff comment. I think that was also at a time, remember in February there was a lot of soreness going on. There was the whole notion that we were going to potentially, the United States was going to invade a NATO territory like Greenland. There's a lot of tension after the Davos experience among the allies and so I would take that with a grain of salt. Frankly, I admire the ambassador. I also think he has done a very good job here for the country. Again, it's not just the relationship with President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, but I would say the ambassador has done a great job as it relates to corporate leaders, other politicians in the country, both state and local. And don't underestimate that, particularly this past weekend with the White House correspondents dinner and some of the things that the British embassy hosted this past weekend. And so to me, I would take that as a grain of salt. I understand the dig there towards Israel and I also understand the feeling of being left out as it relates to the UK. But I wouldn't read much more into that than just frustration at the moment of the time that it was spoken.
Yeah. If he were still involved in the White House operation, what advice would you be giving to President Trump now in terms of his communications regarding the UK? What he says about the UK because he's made some really disparaging, insulting and offensive comments in recent months.
Well, first of all, he would never take my advice and I think that's also the problem now. The country has a committee of one in terms of his governance. So that's not just at the White House, it's the State Department, it's Donald Trump's decision-making, it's the Pentagon, Donald Trump's decision-making, etc. And so that's classically un-American. But I would just say this, you know, when he made disparaging comments about British soldiers, I think the pushback from the British government and perhaps even the king was quite strong. So much so that there was more or less a retraction statement made on Truth Social. Again, the president never apologizes, which I think is one of his biggest mistakes politically, but there was a little bit of a retraction. So, I would just say you can't really influence the president. He's never going to take any advice from anybody. But if people are listening, I have 20 years of knowing President Trump and have been pretty capable of predicting a lot of the things that he does. Push back. Because I think you'd be surprised by pushing back how effective that is. And even if you invite Governor Newsom, the great governor of the state of California on your program, he'll tell you that the president is a keyboard bully, but when he's with him face to face, there's actually quite a jocular exchange. And so it's just a reminder of some of the theatrics that are involved here. Underneath the surface though, I think it's very important to push back. And I think that would be the advice I'd be giving anybody.
You said he never, Donald Trump never says sorry and that's a political mistake in your view. Why?
Well, I think he sees it as a vulnerability and therefore he sees it as a potential weakness, but I think that it's an overcompensation never to say sorry. I think in our lifetimes, by expressing that we ourselves can make mistakes and we ourselves can put bad decisions in place or even a relationship phrase that goes awry, I think that's a sign of good nature and I think that vulnerability breeds more trust and if anything never doing it shows that you're hiding something, there's almost like an underlying insecurity there as opposed to something that you think you're sending a signal of strength, but I think you're sending a signal of insecurity. And so I think that is a mistake. Yeah. Stronger people, more self-assured, self-confident people are willing to admit things once in a while when they don't go their way, you know. And I'll give a specific reference in the United States when we had the Bay of Pigs invasion go badly in 1961. John F. Kennedy, sort of his first foray in this stuff, he said that victory had a thousand fathers but defeat was an orphan and that he took full responsibility for the mistakes that were made in the Bay of Pigs and his approval ratings actually went up as a result of making those statements not down. And so that's confidence versus insecurity.
Understood. You said a few moments ago that no one gives advice to President Trump. That's your experience. Do you mean no one gives advice or do you mean that he doesn't listen when people give advice?
