Having spent nearly a week here speaking to the usual and unusual suspects, some very high up the political and national security and defense ladder, there is unanimity, to repeat unanimity, on the dire consequences the Trump presidency poses for Britain and much of the world in just 100 days. The gloom, matched by sadness and sorrow seeing the “special relationship” that has bonded the US and UK since World War, is so palpable it is almost visible. Why? The first Trump presidency was bad enough for the UK but survivable as Trump did not yet grasp the full power or extent of his office. And he was weighed down with two impeachments and four major indictments against him–one very serious set of charges concerning his disregard for the safe storage of highly classified papers in closets and bathrooms in Mar-a-Lago for which all others would have faced long jail sentences. But as Trump said, whether in jest or not, that his first term was running the country while fighting many legal battles. His second term now “is about running the country and the world.” And it is the running of the world, that presumably includes Britain, that is most uncomfortable because of the fear and presumption that Trump is not only incapable. He is neither fit nor competent to take on that role. While his efforts for example to seek to end the conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine and with Iran are noble, there is no plan or strategy obvious to Britons in government with these re-sponsibilities. And by putting a novice in charge, New York real estate magnate Steve Wikoff with ZERO diplomatic experience-these so-called negotiations are viewed here as both reckless and foolish with little chance of success and with greater likelihoods of even catastrophic failure. The first Trump presidency was bad enough for the UK but survivable as Trump did not yet grasp the full power or extent of his office. At one lecture I gave on the forthcoming book General The Lord David Richards and I are writing-Arc of Failure: Strategic Delusions in a Dangerous and AI-Driven World-of the several dozen questions put to me, only one or two were about the book. The rest were about Trump and quite frankly phrased as “what the hell is happening in America.” From tariffs that were seen as entirely devoid of reason to attacking universities and elite law firms, the people I saw were almost as one in the level of angst Trump was causing. At a private session with one of the UK’s most highly regarded think tanks with people who knew and understood the US and global politics, the unanswerable question was what can or should the UK, Europe and America’s friends do in response? In Europe and NATO the links between the UK and France and Germany were often strong enough to take action in the past when needed. However, domestic politics in these two conti-? 1 nental states were highly volatile and Britain’s BREXIT was not the best foundation for London taking a strong European role. Three areas were of particular concern. The first was that with Trump’s America’s First global policies that threatened enough withdrawal to remove the pillars of the past eighty years that had supported American alliances in Europe and the Pacific. One very likely consequence was to increase the chances of nuclear proliferation by non-nuclear states as critical to assuring security. And some said this was not whether but when South Korea, Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states as well as Poland and Ukraine with its vast nuclear complex may build or buy a bomb. Has the Trump administration even asked this question? Further, the Special Military and Intelligence Relationships have been buffeted if not partially broken. There was no respect for the key members of Trump’s national security team especially in the Pen-tagon and intelligence community. And given how loosely highly classified material was treated and promiscuously spread on Signal by Trump’s most senior officials, great reservations may be the kindest descriptor of the reactions. Third and last, what can be done. While tariffs may resolve themselves as Trump real-izes or is forced to realize the economic damage he has wrought, by shaking the major pillars on which Western security has rested, this may be irreparable. To understand the stunning nature of this admission after Trump has been in office for only 100 days suggests the ominous shadow being cast over Britain. The writer is a senior advisor at Washington, DC’s Atlantic Council and a published author. He can be reached on Twitter @harlankullman.