Keir Starmer's curtain call on the world stage was dominated - like much of his premiership - by Donald Trump. The US President blew through the NATO summit like a hurricane, lashing out at allies and dishing out threats from the moment he arrived in Turkey on Tuesday. A long-time sceptic of the defensive alliance, Trump appears to delight in turning up to the annual summit to cause chaos.
And this year was no exception. His feet had barely hit the ground in Ankara before he was demanding control of Greenland and threatening to pull US troops out of Europe.
NATO Leaders Scramble to Appease Trump
NATO leaders scrambled to feed his ego, with a lavish welcome from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, including a band playing the Stars and Stripes and a flypast by Turkish jets trailing red, white and blue smoke. Leaders appear to have informally agreed not to mention the World Cup to Trump - after the US was knocked out by Belgium despite his intervention to get a red card overturned.
Belgian PM Bart de Wever quipped that he “has the reputation of sometimes reacting a bit irritably to things that he doesn’t like, and I think this defeat will hit hard”.
Trump Spares Starmer Public Attack
Despite all the bluster, Trump did not mount the public attack on Starmer that some in Downing Street had feared. Starmer had charmed Trump in their first Oval Office meeting with the offer of a second state visit, leading Trump to gush that the PM was a "special guy" and they get along "famously".
The pair looked less friendly on Wednesday, as they lined up for the family photo, standing awkwardly together without chatting. But Starmer told reporters the pair had agreed to stay in touch after he left office, despite the verbal attacks Trump lobbed his way with increasing frequency.
Trump Derails Starmer's Agenda
The mercurial US President has demanded so much of the world's attention since entering office, constantly derailing Starmer's efforts to get the economy on track and to focus on fixing Britain. On his final summit as PM, Trump was once again sucking up all the oxygen. It is tough for Starmer to walk away from unfinished business on the world stage - where he won plaudits for his leadership on Ukraine and the Iran war.
He was almost emotional when he spoke to journalists about handing over power, and accepting that his time was up with good grace.
Unusual Gift from Turkish President
But he also shook this off when he nipped back on the plane to tell reporters about how he'd been given an unusual gift by the Turkish President - an engraved Colt-style revolver and a box of live ammunition. Sadly, he had to leave it in Turkey as it can't be legally imported to Britain.
