🟠 News Club - Making a scene

An ugly - and rare - 10 minutes

Last week in this News Club newsletter, I pointed you to some resources on the Trump administration’s changes to American policy on supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia. And in our poll question, almost 700 of you agreed that settling the war on favourable terms for Ukraine is important to you.

But a week is a long time in international politics - and as they say in the classics, that escalated quickly… 

In my role as The Squiz’s newsletter fairy godmother (which should really be in my official title…), I set my alarm on a Saturday morning to check the news before the Saturday Squiz newsletter goes out. If you’re not subscribed to it, you should consider it - those who are will know we get the data and provide a quick/handy wrap of the 5 biggest stories of the week. 

On the weekend, developments in the US-Ukraine relationship was already an item on the list, but as I tapped through the sites, it was clear that an urgent update was required. Now, I’m always a bit sceptical of sensational headlines. Things are often not as bad - or as good - as they suggest. But this time, the footage of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, US President Donald Trump and his Vice President JD Vance going at it was as extraordinary as advertised. 

In 10 ugly minutes, the world witnessed the public implosion of a key global relationship. This CNN account is a good one if you want to get into the minutia of the problems - from Zelensky’s attire to what happened to the lunch that had been prepared for the leaders. 

Squiz Today has unpacked that angry event and what it could mean this morning. But what I was left wondering is how rare is a blowup like that? The short answer is it’s very very rare - our politicians and diplomats (99.9% of the time…) know how to perform in front of the cameras and leave the argy-bargy behind closed doors. 

However, there are some famous blowups/gaffes to point to, so let’s do that with our Club Picks this week:

1. At the start of 2022, Liz Truss was the UK’s Foreign Secretary, and she travelled to Moscow to meet her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and urge restraint as the likelihood of an invasion of Ukraine strengthened. It did not go well, and the joint press conference was super awkward. Lavrov said talking to her was like talking to a deaf person…

2. For innovation in international relations, the award goes to former Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte. In 2016, he issued a “f*** you” along with a raised middle finger to European politicians following criticism of his brutal war on drugs. 

3. Back in 1984, US-Russia tensions were red hot. So it was a high-risk move when then US President Ronald Reagan, mucking around during a soundcheck before his weekly radio address, said: "My fellow Americans. I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in 5 minutes." It didn’t go to air, but it was leaked, causing Soviet forces to be put on high alert. 

4. Sticking with the White House, the (regurgitated) cake goes to President George HW Bush, who fainted and vomited in the lap of Japanese PM Kiichi Miyazawa during a state banquet in 1992. He was later diagnosed with a case of gastro. "Roll me under the table until the dinner's over," Bush told the attending doctor.

As the title of my favourite political biography goes, our leaders are all too human…