In the eight months since he was appointed Secretary of State for Defence, John Healey has undertaken so many foreign visits that his residency status must be dubious. The Yorkshireman, who turned 65 last month, has travelled to Ukraine, Estonia, Poland, Germany, Belgium, Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Norway and the United States. On Wednesday, he returned to Washington for a meeting with his American counterpart, Pete Hegseth.
It is a marker of these extraordinary times and the volatility of President Donald Trump’s instincts – they are not policies in any meaningful sense – that British ministers visiting Washington do so with trepidation. On the agenda for Healey were the possibility of a ‘peace’ plan for Ukraine, Europe’s role in the agreement and America’s decision to suspend first military aid to Ukraine then intelligence-sharing. With masterful understatement, the Ministry of Defence described these as ‘political discussions’.
Healey knows he must listen to Washington say something is black, then enthusiastically agree that it is white
British ministers currently have to manage a degree of cognitive dissonance: for political reasons, they must be seen as supportive of the Trump administration and enjoying excellent relations.
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