Donald Trump second term would be ‘worse than first’, warns former ambassador – particularly for UK relationship

A former UK ambassador to the US has told Sky News a second term for Donald Trump in the White House would be “even more difficult than the first”.

Sir Nigel Sheinwald, who served in Washington between 2007 and 2012, warned the world will see a “supercharged Trump” if he “gets the second wind of a re-election”.

President Joe Biden said earlier this week that his potential rival is “willing to sacrifice democracy” as Mr Trump appeals against Colorado’s decision to bar him from the ballot over the January 6 Capitol riots.

As polls suggest Mr Trump could be the favourite to win the election in November, Sir Nigel said the world looks on “aghast” at his candidacy – and it would have a big impact on Britain.

“The first term was bad enough for the alliance, for the UK – he humiliated the UK – disregarded the importance of NATO,” he said.

“But I think that the intervening years mean that this is going to be a sequel, and sequels are very often worse than the original films.

“So, I think that he will be an unfettered second-term president. There’ll be a lot of vengeful activity in the US.

“And I think we have to take seriously his threats in relation to Ukraine, in defunding Ukraine in relation to NATO… not putting the money in that’s necessary to keep it going.”

UK relationship ‘caught in cold blast’

A recent USA Today and Suffolk University survey suggests Mr Trump has gained ground among Latino voters and leads Mr Biden among voters under 35.

Meanwhile, several polls put Mr Trump at least 30 points ahead of his nearest rivals for the Republican nomination, which he is the overwhelming favourite to win – despite his former vice president calling for a different candidate.

Should he go all the way, then the fundamental problem facing any country trying to deal with the US under Mr Trump is the “unpredictability” and the “huge personal vanity that goes into every decision”, Sir Nigel said.

His relationship with key allies, he added, was “fundamentally different” from any president since the Second World War, particularly when it comes to the UK.

“The country that’s affected most when America is in trouble, when America is less potent, is the UK,” he said.

The UK has been aligned with America for so long, he said, that “when America is unable to project its influence in the way that it wants to… we get caught in the cold blast of that”.

“Let’s not be in any doubt, this will be a huge weakening of the alliance and of the international system,” he added.

Donald Trump the ‘chaos agent’

CNN’s chief international anchor, Christiane Amanpour, echoed Sir Nigel’s warning over the implications of Mr Trump’s victory.

Speaking as part of a Sky News panel on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, she said Mr Trump was a “chaos agent” during his first term.

“I think what people need to understand is that when Donald Trump was president, just in terms of the world, he was actually a chaos agent. It’s not just we think he likes dictators – he does,” she said.

“He likes Vladimir Putin. If Vladimir Putin wins in Ukraine, the whole of our post-World War Two order will be destroyed.”

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She also said Mr Trump will be “untrammelled” if he wins the presidency, warning some of his rhetoric has been “Nazi talk”.

“He went as far as to say ‘I will be a dictator for the first day’, he said ‘I will use my justice department to go after all my enemies’,” she said. “‘I am your retribution’ – what does that even mean?”

“About immigrants, he said they infect the blood of Americans. This is Nazi talk, this is really dangerous and he has declared what he will do.

“Now some say ‘your fears are just the fears of demented liberals’, others say that ‘actually he is a genuine, real and proven threat to not only us but also global democracy’.

“And the 14th amendment actually says that any state or federal official who’s taken part in an insurrection is barred from taking office and holding office in the future.”

Mr Trump has previously brushed off criticism of his comments, saying: “I never read [Hitler’s manifesto] Mein Kampf.”