THE GUARDIAN: Former UK prime minister says US may regret ceding world stage to China and condemns ‘hypocritical’ JD Vance speech
Democracy around the globe is under threat from the retreat of Donald Trump’s US into isolationism and its likely replacement by China on the world stage, John Major has said.
The former UK prime minister, who rarely offers direct opinion on contemporary politics, used an interview with BBC Radio 4 to say Trump’s administration was unlike anything he had seen before – and to warn that Washington may live to regret ceding global leadership to a more autocratic power.
Major, who was in office from 1990 to 1997, also condemned JD Vance, the US vice-president, as hypocritical and “not statesmanlike” for lecturing Europe on free speech while “cuddling” Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that democracy is threatened. It’s been in modest decline for the last 18 years. There’s an ugly nationalism growing mostly from the intolerant right,” Major said. » | Peter Walker, Senior political correspondent | Sunday, February 16, 2025
