Trump takes global spat to new level of danger

An expensive night’s work, then, for US president Donald Trump.

Amid the sickening breathlessness with which acts of war are reported, particularly by broadcast media, we learned that each Tomahawk missile aimed at al- Shayrat airbase in Syria cost £1million.

Today we learn that, like the weapons used against by Saudi Arabia against innocent people in Yemen, parts of Trump’s Tomahawks were probably made in Fife.

Proving that in the multi-billion-pound international arms trade, few countries – if any – have their hands completely clean.

Trump is an easy target for criticism by the media he clearly despises.

But he was in an unenviable position when he took the decision to hit back against Assad’s revolting regime.

Failure to act would have his liberal tormentors accusing him of being scared to upset Vladimir Putin to the extent that he’d turn a blind eye to the atrocity Assad ordered in Khan Sheikhoun.

Trump has never shown the slightest indication that he gives even one hoot for what such people think of him. So whatever the rights and wrongs of Friday’s strike, we can probably safely say that Trump acted through conviction, regardless of political expediency.

But early signs are that this is not necessarily a good thing.

Tensions with Russia have escalated and the diplomatic fallout is star t ing to envelop much of the world.

Assad appears unwilling to get back in his box as reports emerge that he has doubled down with fresh bomb strikes on the village he gassed.

And like an unhinged pub hardman spotting a fight breaking out in the car park, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has waded in, making noises about his own country’s nuclear capabilities.

The uncertainty is another by-product of Trump’s rise to power.

The world had got used to a president in Barack Obama who, right or wrong, rarely acted in haste.

When Trump took over office, the world changed. Those hoping that his noninterventionist campaign rhetoric would mean he’d play a diminished role on the international stage can think again.

We are now in a situation where three powerful nations led by macho, posturing leaders are locked in deadly conflict. None of them are noted for backing down.

Again, it’s worth stressing that Trump may not have done the wrong thing.

But it ’ s hard to escape the impression that his actions have suddenly made a febrile region an ever more dangerous proposition.

President Obama rarely acted in haste but when Donald Trump took over, the world changed