**Alastair Campbell** (0:00)
Thanks for listening to The Rest Is Politics. To support the podcast, listen without the adverts, and get early access to episodes and live show tickets, go to therestispolitics.com. That's therestispolitics.com.
Trump's vanity and narcissism is such that he sees himself as the king. He wants to be an emperor, he wants to be an unelected monarch.
**Rory Stewart** (0:21)
And the question now is, is it broken? The continual humiliations and insults from Trump. Does this mean that Britain now needs to think about a radically different grand strategy for the next 20 years?
**Alastair Campbell** (0:31)
Trust has broken down because of the way that Trump has conducted himself.
**Rory Stewart** (0:34)
The whole world is locked in a kind of abusive marriage where the Trump administration is saying to everybody else, you can't afford to leave me.
**Alastair Campbell** (0:42)
The most powerful man in the world can't count, can't add up, doesn't know what a percentage is. Why have we got somebody so stupid as president? And why do we treat them as normal? This episode is brought to you by Fuse Energy.
**Rory Stewart** (0:56)
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**Alastair Campbell** (1:11)
So if bills are meant to fall from April, why would anyone bother switching?
**Rory Stewart** (1:15)
Because policy sets the floor.
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**Alastair Campbell** (1:25)
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**Rory Stewart** (1:38)
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**Alastair Campbell** (1:44)
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**Rory Stewart** (1:52)
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**Alastair Campbell** (2:02)
This episode is brought to you by NordVPN.
**Rory Stewart** (2:06)
Well, we've both been on the move a lot recently. I'm in fact speaking to you, having just got off a plane in the US, and when you're traveling frequently, convenience takes over. There I was, my airport Wi-Fi, and I am on a hotel network, looking for quick connection between meetings. It all feels routine. And that, of course, is when I'm most exposed online.
**Alastair Campbell** (2:22)
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**Rory Stewart** (2:27)
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**Alastair Campbell** (2:34)
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**Rory Stewart** (2:45)
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**Alastair Campbell** (2:55)
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**Rory Stewart** (3:45)
Welcome to The Rest Is Politics with me, Rory Stewart.
**Alastair Campbell** (3:48)
And with me, Alastair Campbell. So with the King in the United States, we're going to be talking about his role in diplomacy. We're going to talk about Donald Trump and expectations for the visit. We're going to talk about what that says about the broader relationship between the UK.
**Rory Stewart** (4:02)
Special relationship.
**Alastair Campbell** (4:03)
So called, between the UK and the US. We're going to talk a lot about the Balkans because we did a very interesting interview with the president of Serbia this week, and we're going to get into broader picture in that region, which is, I think we don't talk about enough. And we're going to talk a little bit about what's happening inside labor on a day when Kierstammer yet again is facing a few travails. I had a wonderful expression on my German podcast this morning, about King Charles, said he's a diplomatische Wunderwaffe.
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