At the United Nations in New York, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham met Donald Trump for the first time as head of government, navigating a relationship freighted with personal history, geopolitical tension, and the slow unravelling of the postwar international order. Where his predecessor sought safety in deference, Burnham is testing whether principled stands — on Israeli settlements, on AI governance, on Iran — can coexist with the pragmatic necessity of keeping America close. The encounter went better than many expected, but the deeper question it raised is one Britain cannot defer inde