The enduring legacy of Churchill 60 years after his death – and why Trump sees him as an icon to emulate

Published

7 months ago

January 26, 2025

admin

Sir Winston Churchill died 60 years ago this week on 24 January 1965. His funeral took place on 30 January, following three days lying in state in the Palace of Westminster.

It was the only occasion since the Second World War when a full state funeral was held for someone who was not a member of the Royal Family.

Churchill was venerated then as the prime minister who had led Great Britain to victory over Hitler and the Nazis. He has repeatedly topped surveys asking for the “Greatest Briton” since.

In 1965, many people who had lived through the war were still alive. The Royal Mint struck a ‘Churchill Crown’, with a nominal value of five shillings, to mark his life and death. Such commemorative issues were a rarity in the 1960s.

The funeral itself was an exceptional and grand event, involving thousands of troops from all branches of the armed services. It had been planned for at least 12 years, with its ailing subject taking an active interest.

Its sombre splendour cemented Britain’s reputation for ceremonial spectacle but afterwards, French President General Charles de Gaulle, who Churchill had grudgingly allowed to be invited, commented: “Now Britain is no longer a great power.”

As remarkable as the national and international reaction at the time of his death, is the phenomenon that Sir Winston Churchill endures as an iconic figure, more than half a century later.

Yet another drama depicting Churchill is opening on stage in London. This time Roger Allam, Inspector Thursday in the Endeavour TV series, is playing the great man in Churchill in Moscow, following in the footsteps of other stars including Brian Cox, Albert Finney, Timothy Spall, Timothy West, Robert Hardy and Richard Burton.

Bust returned twice

Meanwhile, with the inauguration of a new US president, the location of a bust of Sir Winston has once again become a hot topic, in Britain’s right-wing media outlets at least.

👉 Follow Trump 100 on your podcast app 👈

Donald Trump has re-instated the bronze by Sir Jacob Epstein in a prominent position in the Oval Office. It was originally a loan from the British Embassy to President George W Bush. Both Trump’s immediate presidential predecessors, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, had it moved elsewhere in the White House. Trump has now put it back twice.

Obama put a bust of Martin Luther King Junior in pride of place. Joe Biden favoured the Irish-American Bobby Kennedy. RFK senior that is, not his son RFK junior, the Kennedy family renegade now nominated as Trump’s health secretary.

There has long been another identical copy of the Epstein bust in the presidential private quarters – a gift to Lyndon Johnson in 1965.

Churchill’s grandson, Nicholas Soames, a former Conservative MP who is now in the House of Lords, is unimpressed by all the fuss. He points out: “It’s loaned. I promise you, it’s not a sign of the strength or otherwise of the special relationship, whether or not Churchill’s head is in the White House.”

Trump’s admiration for Churchill is more personal than anglophile. His glaring official photo portrait for this year’s inauguration is almost a pastiche of Churchill’s frequent “we shall never surrender” poses, just as some Trump posts on social media garble some of Churchill’s most famous quotations. The Darkest Hour, featuring Gary Oldman as Churchill, is one of the films Trump has identified as his favourite movie.

Leader comparisons

The president’s closest allies like to draw comparisons between the two men. In 2020, when Trump muscled his way to St John’s Church opposite the White House for a photo-op after it had been damaged by a firebomb, his official spokesman said it was “a message of resilience and determination, like Churchill inspecting the bombing damage”, presumably of the Blitz.

After visiting his father following this summer’s deadly assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, Trump’s son Eric likened him to Churchill due to his “lack of political correctness”.

Trump is not the only US president to emulate Churchill. Both Eisenhower and George W Bush tried their hand at painting, inspired in part by Churchill’s skill with the brush.

Trump is a great admirer of pageantry and may be disappointed that, at 24.6 million, the TV audience for his second inauguration did not match either Joe Biden’s or Barack Obama’s first.

Part of the explanation may be increasing fragmentation of audiences by new media represented by the tech billionaires, who were invited to attend the ceremony in person by Trump.

In 1965 a similar number, 25 million, watched Churchill’s funeral in the UK, an overwhelming mass audience in a much smaller country than the US. There were only two TV channels then and the ceremony was broadcast live by both the BBC and ITV.

On the BBC, it was the last state occasion anchored by Richard Dimbleby, the patriarch of the Dimbleby broadcasting family. There were large TV audiences in the US as well. The funeral was not shown live on RTE in Ireland. Neither the Irish president nor prime minister attended the ceremony.

I was a small boy then and remember the coverage as one of the two great highlights of the black and white television era. The other was England’s World Cup victory in 1966. Extended outside broadcast from multiple locations were a rarity. Both the funeral and the cup final took place during the day on a Saturday – a time when, back then, there was usually nothing to watch on TV sets.

Rare honour of state funeral

The funeral was a television spectacular involving foot soldiers and cavalry, RAF fly-bys and travel by boat, train, manpower and hearse. The ceremonies had been in planning since Churchill had his first major stroke in 1953.

He was serving his second term as prime minister and the poor state of his health was covered up from the public, even though he was left partially paralysed. Officials in the know, working for the royals and at Westminster, set to work to prepare Operation Hope Not.

Putting the plan into action required a message from the Queen to parliament and a motion in parliament the day after Churchill died to authorise a state funeral.

Full state funerals are usually reserved for heads of state. The late Queen Mother, Princess Diana, the late Duke of Edinburgh, and former prime minister Margaret Thatcher were all given ceremonial funerals in recent years – but none of these were state funeral in terms of scale or international protocol. Britain’s next state funeral was for Elizabeth II in September 2022.

Churchill’s embalmed body lay in state round the clock in Westminster Hall for three days. More than 300,000 people filed past to pay their respects. Then the funeral began when Big Ben struck 9.45am. The bell was silenced for the day after that but there was a 90-gun salute in Hyde Park, a volley for each year of Churchill’s life.

As soldiers and spectators lined the streets of London, Churchill’s coffin was placed on a gun carriage and pulled by 98 sailors from the Royal Navy all the way to St Paul’s Cathedral. It was carried inside with honorary pallbearers including three other British prime ministers and an Australian one. Clement Attlee, aged 82, stumbled on the steps and was given a chair to rest on.

Queen broke with protocol

After the service, the catafalque was drawn to the pier by Tower Bridge and taken upriver to Waterloo Station. Dockside cranes dipped as the boat passed. There is some dispute as to how voluntary this gesture by dockers really was. Even though his final journey was by locomotive down the Great Western Railway, Churchill insisted on going via Waterloo rather than Paddington station to make a point about British historical glory.

He was buried at St Martin’s Church, Bladon, on the Blenheim estate, seat of the Duke of Marlborough, a cousin, alongside his parents and other members of the Spencer Churchill family.

Churchill was the first prime minister of Queen Elizabeth’s reign. Throughout the funeral day she broke with protocol to give him precedence. She hosted a reception for the dignitaries in attendance including the nine monarchs, 15 presidents and 14 serving prime ministers.

It is perhaps just as well that Donald Trump will not be around to see if his final obsequies beat that.

US

Ukrainians are appalled at Trump’s naive and cack-handed diplomacy

Published

5 hours ago

August 15, 2025

admin

Ukrainians are appalled at Trump's naive and cack-handed diplomacy

For Ukrainians, the spectacle of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump meeting in Alaska will be repugnant.

The man behind an unprovoked invasion of their country is being honoured with a return to the world stage by the leader of a country that was meant to be their ally.

And they feel let down.

Follow latest updates from Ukraine war

President Trump had threatened severe sanctions on Russia within 50 days if Russia didn’t agree to a deal. He had seemed close to imposing them before letting Putin wriggle off the hook yet again.

But they are not surprised. At every stage, Trump has either sided with Russia or at least given them the benefit of the doubt.

It is clear that Putin has some kind of hold over this American president, in their minds and many others.

Ukraine wants three things out of these talks. A ceasefire, security guarantees and reparations. It is not clear at this stage that they will get any of them.

Ukrainians and their European allies are appalled at the naive and cack-handed diplomacy that has preceded this meeting.

Vladimir Putin is sending a team of foreign affairs heavyweights, adept at getting the better of opponents in negotiations.

There are, the Financial Times reported this week, no Russia specialists left at the Trump White House.

Instead, Trump is relying on Steve Witkoff, a real estate lawyer and foreign policy novice, who has demonstrated a haphazard mastery of his brief and breathtaking credulity with the Russians.

Former British spy chief Sir Alex Younger described him today as totally out of his depth. Trump, he says, is being played like a fiddle by Putin.

There is a fundamental misunderstanding of the conflict at the heart of the Trump administration’s handling of it. Witkoff and the president see it in terms of real estate. But it has never been about territory.

Vladimir Putin has made it abundantly clear that Ukraine’s existence as a sovereign democratic entity cannot be tolerated. He has made no pretence that his views on that have changed.

Ukrainians know that and fear any deal cooked up in Alaska will be used by Putin on the path towards that ultimate goal

US

Melania Trump threatens to sue Hunter Biden for $1bn over Epstein comments

Published

17 hours ago

August 14, 2025

admin

Melania Trump threatens to sue Hunter Biden for bn over Epstein comments

Melania Trump has threatened to sue Hunter Biden for more than $1bn (£736.5m) in damages if he does not retract comments linking her to Jeffrey Epstein.

Mr Biden, who is the son of former US president Joe Biden, alleged in an interview this month that sex trafficker Epstein introduced the first lady to President Donald Trump.

“Epstein introduced Melania to Trump. The connections are, like, so wide and deep,” he claimed.

Ms Trump’s lawyer labelled the comments false, defamatory and “extremely salacious” in a letter to Mr Biden.

Her lawyer wrote that the first lady suffered “overwhelming financial and reputational harm” as the claims were widely discussed on social media and reported by media around the world.

The president and first lady previously said they were introduced by modelling agent Paolo Zampolli at a New York Fashion Week party in 1998.

Mr Biden attributed the claim that Epstein introduced the couple to author Michael Wolff, who was accused by Mr Trump of making up stories to sell books in June and was dubbed a “third-rate reporter” by the president.

The former president’s son doubled down on his remarks in a follow-up interview with the same YouTube outlet, Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan, entitled “Hunter Biden Apology”.

Asked if he would apologise to the first lady, Mr Biden responded: “F*** that – that’s not going to happen.”

He added: “I don’t think these threats of lawsuits add up to anything other than designed distraction.”

Ms Trump’s threat to sue Mr Biden echoes a strategy employed by her husband, who has aggressively used legal action to go after critics.

Public figures like the Trumps must meet a high bar to succeed in a defamation suit like the one that could be brought by the first lady if she follows through with her threat.

In his initial interview, Mr Biden also hit out at “elites” and others in the Democratic Party, who he claims undermined his father before he dropped out of last year’s race for president.

The letter threatening legal action against Mr Biden is dated 6 August and was first reported by Fox News Digital.

It was addressed to Abbe Lowell, a lawyer who has represented Mr Biden in his criminal cases. Mr Lowell has not yet commented on the letter.

This comes as pressure on the White House to release the Epstein files has been mounting for weeks, after he made a complete U-turn on his administration’s promise to release more information publicly.

The US Justice Department, which confirmed in July that it would not be releasing the files, said a review of the Epstein case had found “no incriminating ‘client list'” and “no credible evidence” the jailed financier – who killed himself in prison in 2019 – had blackmailed famous men.

US

Trump’s pride vs Putin’s legacy: What to expect from pivotal Ukraine summit

Published

23 hours ago

August 14, 2025

admin

Trump's pride vs Putin's legacy: What to expect from pivotal Ukraine summit

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will meet for the first time in six years on Friday, with a possible deal to end the Ukraine war on the agenda.

Mr Trump has threatened “very severe consequences” if his Russian counterpart doesn’t agree to a ceasefire at the summit, being hosted at a remote US army base in snowy Anchorage, Alaska.

Follow latest updates from Ukraine war

But there are fears they will discuss a deal robbing Ukraine of the land currently occupied by Russia – something Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he won’t accept.

Here’s what three of our correspondents think ahead of the much-anticipated face-to-face.

Putin’s legacy is at stake – he’ll want territory and more
By Ivor Bennett, Moscow correspondent, in Alaska

Putin doesn’t just want victory. He needs it.

Three and a half years after he ordered the invasion of Ukraine, this war has to end in a visible win for the Russian president. It can’t have been for nothing. His legacy is at stake.

So the only deal I think he’ll be willing to accept at Friday’s summit is one that secures Moscow’s goals.

These include territory (full control of the four Ukrainian regions which Russia has already claimed), permanent neutrality for Kyiv and limits on its armed forces.

I expect he’ll be trying to convince Trump that such a deal is the quickest path to peace. The only alternative, in Russia’s eyes, is an outright triumph on the battlefield.

I think Putin‘s hope is that the American president agrees with this view and then gives Ukraine a choice: accept our terms or go it alone without US support.

A deal like that might not be possible this week, but it may be in the future if Putin can give Trump something in return.

That’s why there’s been lots of talk from Moscow this week about all the lucrative business deals that can come from better US-Russia relations.

The Kremlin will want to use this opportunity to remind the White House of what else it can offer, apart from an end to the fighting.

Ukraine would rather this summit not be happening
By Dominic Waghorn, international affairs editor, in Ukraine

Ukraine would far rather this meeting wasn’t happening.

Trump seemed to have lost patience with Putin and was about to hit Russia with more severe sanctions until he was distracted by the Russian leader’s suggestion that they meet.

Ukrainians say the Alaska summit rewards Putin by putting him back on the world stage.

But the meeting is happening, and they have to be realistic.

Most of all, they want a ceasefire before any negotiations can happen. Then they want the promise of security guarantees.

That is because they know that Putin may well come back for more even if peace does break out. They need to be able to defend themselves should that happen.

And they want the promise of reparations to rebuild their country, devastated by Putin’s wanton, unprovoked act of aggression.

There are billions of Russian roubles and assets frozen across the West. They want them released and sent their way.

What they fear is Trump being hoodwinked by Putin with the lure of profit from US-Russian relations being restored, regardless of Ukraine’s fate.

That would allow Russia to regain its strength, rearm and prepare for another round of fighting in a few years’ time.

Trump and his golf buddy-turned-negotiator Steve Witkoff appear to believe Putin might be satisfied with keeping some of the land he has taken by force.

Putin says he wants much more than that. He wants Ukraine to cease to exist as a country separate from Russia.

Any agreement short of that is only likely to be temporary.

Trump’s pride on the line – he has a reputation to restore
By Martha Kelner, US correspondent, in Alaska

As with anything Donald Trump does, he already has a picture in his mind.

The image of Trump shaking hands with the ultimate strongman leader, Vladimir Putin, on US soil calls to his vanity and love of an attention-grabbing moment.

There is also pride at stake.

Trump campaigned saying he would end the Russia-Ukraine war on his first day in office, so there is an element of him wanting to follow through on that promise to voters, even though it’s taken him 200-plus days in office and all he’s got so far is this meeting, without apparently any concessions on Putin’s end.

In Trump’s mind – and in the minds of many of his supporters – he is the master negotiator, the chief dealmaker, and he wants to bolster that reputation.

He is keen to further the notion that he negotiates in a different, more straightforward way than his predecessors and that it is paying dividends.