IF TEESSIDE had a Donald Trump figure fighting its corner three years ago then its steel-making industry might still be alive today.

Trump's support for America's steel mills and his 'stuff the rest of the world' approach is the act of a President with half an eye on re-election desperate to please his core supporters. It is gesture politics but, like a lot of what Trump does, it contains a form of skewed, populist logic which goes down well with many voters. 

Thank goodness Trump wasn't in the White House when Britain desperately needed the help of its greatest ally in World War Two. His America First policy would have left us high and dry. 

The bonds forged by Britain and the US as they combined with Allies in the defeat of Hitler and Japan, and later strenghtened by Thatcher, Reagan, Blair and Clinton, will be stretched to breaking point by Trump's steel tariffs. The 'special relationship' is on the verge of collapse. 

If we were true allies with shared goals then Theresa May and the EU leaders who've all cosied up the the US President over the last 18 months would have a joint steel trade policy to combat cheap exports flooding the market from India and China. 

Instead Trump has gone rogue to protect US steel mills and save jobs. 

When Teesside's last remaining steelmaking plant was left high and dry in 2015 workers were told that the Government's hands were tied as EU rules prevented any intervention to save thousands of jobs and ensure 170 years of iron and steel production continued. 

Redcar was abandoned but two years later, as the General Election loomed, the potential collapse of the rest of Britain's steelmaking industry prompted the Government step in and work closely with plant owners to find a buyer and use taxpayers' money to keep the Port Talbot and Scunthorpe works going. The fear of losing votes suddenly led to some creative thinking from the then Business Secretary Sajid Javid.  

Whether Trump's blunt strategy works in 2018 remains to be seen. Europe has threatened to retaliate by boycotting the purchase of jeans, Harley Davidson motorcycles and bourbon whisky. Bad news for Hells Angels planning to go on a spending spree but it's unlikely to stop Trump in his tracks.