In the cold light of day, under the powerful narcotic of relief, everyone goes back to their usual roles.
Nato chief Mark Rutte, the Theon Greyjoy of world politics, is jetting over to Washington to whisper obscene celebrations into Trump’s ear.
If we remember it, we will have to act on it and that would be inconvenient.
Trump will now tell us that these words worked, that they were a bluff, a feint.
If true, that will constitute perhaps the greatest humiliation for the US since the fall of Saigon.
Yet for all the damage, nothing is as pertinent as what Trump said in those final moments.
The sun’s out, the immediate threat has passed, the coming economic crisis has been potentially averted, or at least partially restrained. »