Con Coughlin:

The President’s flirtation with Putin confirms that after we leave the EU we must be able to stand alone

Donald Trump’s European tour was supposed to be the moment when the US President finally provided some clarity about how he intends to conduct relations with the continent. Instead, his whirlwind series of meetings with Nato leaders, British politicians and the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, concluded in a welter of contradictions and confusion as to his future intentions.

He began the visit by chiding the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, over what he regarded as Berlin’s overly cosy relationship with Russia, and ended it with his own ringing endorsement of the Russian leader. In between, he found time to castigate Theresa May for failing to stand up to the EU in the Brexit negotiations, before correcting himself and showering the Prime Minister with lavish praise.

If the key to successful negotiations is to keep everyone guessing as to your true intentions, then Mr Trump is indisputably the master of his art. Such tactics, though, are less effective if the primary object of the exercise is to build lasting relationships that are mutually beneficial.

Thus, rather than reassuring America’s long-standing allies in Europe that the Trump administration remains committed to upholding the shared values and bonds of the transatlantic relationship, all his visit seems to have achieved is to raise doubts about the loyalty of someone who, from a European perspective, is increasingly viewed as an unreliable president.

Such perceptions have not been helped by Mr Trump’s bizarre summit with Mr Putin in Helsinki. It ended with the US leader apparently preferring to believe his Russian counterpart’s claim that Moscow did not interfere in the 2016 election, rather than heed his own intelligence chiefs, who insist that it did, although he now claims to have misspoken.

Mr Trump’s obsession with establishing a cordial working relationship with Mr Putin is perhaps the best example of his contradictory approach. On one level the Trump administration views Russia as posing the greatest threat to European security, a point the President was keen to press home during his confrontational encounter with Mrs Merkel.

But the American leader also believes he can work with Mr Putin to resolve many of the world’s ills, from ending the Syrian civil war to negotiating new arms control agreements.

Mr Trump might think he knows what he is doing, but for everyone else the mixed signals emanating from the White House only cause confusion. Many European leaders have been prompted to question whether, in the event of a crisis, they would still be able to rely on America’s support.

The dilemma is especially pertinent for Britain as it negotiates a crucial stage of the Brexit process. The holy grail for many Brexiteers is the prospect of a beneficial trade deal with the US once we have finally parted company with Brussels. But after the caustic comments Mr Trump made about Mrs May’s compromise deal over Brexit, the chances of reaching such an agreement can no longer be taken for granted.

And with Mr Trump seemingly determined to develop his personal accord with Mr Putin, there is clearly no guarantee that Britain and other members of the Nato alliance will be able to rely on American backing if the Russians maintain their policy of political destabilisation.

It is all very well for Mr Trump to say that he would welcome the Kremlin’s help with the inquiry into allegations of Russian meddling in the American democratic process. But, now that he’s on such good personal terms with Mr Putin, he should also be pressing the Russian President to cooperate fully with the investigation into the poisonings in Salisbury, where one British citizen has already died as a result of the Russian-made Novichok nerve agent.

The real lesson of The Donald’s European tour, then, is that, as we can no longer take American support for granted while Mr Trump occupies the White House, we need to become far more self-reliant in our dealings with the outside world post-brexit.

Rather than simply hoping that a lucrative trade deal with the US will help to compensate for any losses incurred by leaving the EU, we need to have an imaginative approach, one that envisages developing new markets in Asia, Latin America and the Antipodes.

Mr Trump’s apparent lack of interest in America’s long-standing European allies is also a persuasive argument for the Government to pay more attention to our defence needs. From the Cold War until today, Britain’s security has been guaranteed by the unrivalled strength of the American military. But if we can no longer count on US support, we need to improve our ability to act independently of Washington – something we have not seriously considered doing since the Falklands war 36 years ago.

Thanks to Mr Trump, we now live in an age of unpredictability. The best way to handle it is to be prepared to face any eventuality.