Former UK official: Personal ties don’t matter in politics

AlArabiya English

Former UK Minister of State for Europe Denis MacShane says personal ties mean little in politics so Trump and Meloni’s connection won’t change outcomes. #Trump #Meloni

Transcript

00:00Do you think personal relationships, having seen the goings-on in bilateral discussions

00:06that you've presumably been party to, do you think they matter in the context of trying

00:10to defuse a trade war like this one?

00:13Honestly, not.

00:14I would shuttlecock between Tony Blair and then-German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder or

00:19the French president or Dominique de Villepin, the foreign minister.

00:23I knew them well.

00:23I spoke French.

00:24I spoke German.

00:25I campaigned with Gerhard.

00:26And Schröder was a friendly pro-Blair guy, but he once just waved me away and said,

00:33no, Dennis, don't come and talk to me about what Tony Blair wants, because all I hear is

00:37the voice of Rupert Murdoch.

00:39And until Tony cuts free from Rupert Murdoch and speaks for Europe as well as simply the

00:45Murdoch position and everything, I'm not interested in him.

00:48That was just, you know, he was tired, exhausted at the end of a bad day of negotiations.

00:53So I think Mr. Trump will say, I love tariffs.

00:59Europe has been screwing us.

01:01Italy's been screwing us.

01:03You've not, you've taken advantage of America.

01:05Why?

01:06I mean, Italy has done nothing different from France, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Great

01:12Britain in terms of trade with America.

01:14America, and the fact they have a small ideological affiliation, not really a very big one, I don't

01:21think is going to make any difference.

01:24It's been a very big deal.

01:31It's been a very big deal.

01:33It's been a very big deal.

01:34It's been a very big deal.

01:35It's been a very big deal.

01:36It's been a big deal.

01:37It's been a very big deal.

01:38It's been a big deal.

01:39It's been a big deal.

01:40It's been a big deal.

01:41It's been a big deal.

01:42It's been a big deal.

01:43It's been a big deal.

01:44It's been a big deal.

01:46It's been a big deal.

01:47It's been a big deal.

01:48It's been a big deal.

01:49It's been a big deal.

01:50It's been a big deal.

01:51It's been a big deal.

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