International order changing as Keir Starmer's success in Oval Office is followed by Donald Trump's shouting match with Volodymyr Zelensky

Just 24 hours earlier it had been all smiles when Sir Keir Starmer met with President Trump in the same room and presented him with an invitation for a second state visit to the UK and a pre-visit trip to Scotland for talks with the King.

The president's delight set a positive tone for the rest of the meeting - he suggested the UK might escape his planned tariffs and even mentioned the possibility of a trade deal, as well as backing the UK government's controversial plan to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. It was an undoubted diplomatic success for the prime minister and he won cross-party praise in the House of Commons on Monday.

US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky argue in the Oval Office at the White House | Getty Images

But President Trump's meeting with the Ukrainian president - potentially fraught from the outset because of Trump's disparaging comments about Zelensky - descended into a shouting match, made worse by US vice-president JD Vance’s interventions. Ridiculously, Zelensky was asked at one point by an American journalist why he wasn’t wearing a suit.

Trump has said he wants his legacy to be as a peacemaker, but his first priority seems to be a deal about the US getting rights to Ukraine's valuable mineral deposits - perhaps not surprising for a man who chooses to view the tragedy of Gaza as real estate opportunity to create a Middle East riviera.

Meanwhile, Trump seems to have switched sides on the war in Ukraine. Despite US backing for Ukraine following Russia's invasion three years ago, he says he is not aligned with either side but is a mediator in the middle.

However, he repeatedly emphasises his good relations with Russian president Vladimir Putin and last week at the United Nations General Assembly the US voted alongside Russia, Belarus and North Korea against a European resolution condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Before the meltdown in the Oval Office, Donald Trump planned to exclude Europe from any peace talks. Now Europe, whose leaders met in London on Sunday, is taking the initiative to repair US-Ukrianian relations and build a peace plan.

The international order is changing shape before our eyes, but exactly what it will look like still seems up in the air.