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Keir Starmer insisted he was “not going to choose” between Europe and the US when he spoke in Downing Street about the chaos wrought by the Iran war. But he sounded very much like a man who has made a decision, thanks partly to the erratic and incompetent behaviour of the US president.

In his latest outburst, Donald Trump suggested that the US might quit NATO, the military alliance he described as a “paper tiger”. NATO has been the bedrock of our security for decades. Its mere existence allowed US president Ronald Reagan and UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher to win the Cold War and free Eastern Europe from the tyranny of communism.

But Mr Trump’s comments haven’t come as a shock, because he’s previously warned the US might not honour its commitments under the NATO treaty, in which case it may as well not be a member.

The president also ridiculed the Royal Navy, after previously mocking Sir Keir for being “no Winston Churchill”.

It was a temper tantrum prompted by the UK’s refusal to offer wholehearted support for his war against Iran.

But Sir Keir knows what’s going on. He may not be a great Prime Minister on the domestic front, but he’s got the measure of Donald Trump.

The Prime Minister said: “Whatever the pressure on me and others, whatever the noise, I’m going to act in the British national interest in all the decisions that I make. And that’s why I’ve been absolutely clear that this is not our war. We’re not going to get dragged in.”

And he’s right. Mr Trump is trying to bully the UK into doing his bidding, and it’s not in our interests to give in.

But the president’s behaviour isn’t just unethical. It’s worse than that. It’s also incompetent.

In the run-up to the Iraq war in 2003, US Secretary of State Colin Powell and British prime minister Tony Blair embarked on a furious round of diplomacy designed to win support for their plans. And they succeeded in persuading 46 other nations to provide military support for the invasion in some form, in what became the ”coalition of the willing”.

The war itself is seen today as a terrible mistake, but, for better or worse, the diplomacy that came before it was a triumph.

What diplomacy did Mr Trump carry out before the US and Israel attacked Iran? What efforts did he make to win the support of America’s closest allies?

It appears he did nothing at all, and then threw his toys out of the pram when support was not forthcoming. For a president, just being bad at the job.

Now, the world faces an economic crisis which could continue long after the fighting ends if Iran refuses to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz. This is a vital shipping lane used to transport gas and oil.

But having made the mess, Mr Trump has no intention of cleaning it up, telling America’s allies to “go get your own oil”.

For Sir Keir, the answer is to reverse Brexit and move firmly back into the orbit of Brussels. This is no doubt what he wanted to do anyway, but Donald Trump has made it much easier for him.