On Wednesday afternoon, US president Donald Trump made the short flight to Dover Airbase for the solemn transfer of the six service members killed in the Middle East during a refuelling mission. The ceremony was not broadcast, at the request of the families, but the sombre photographs – heavy coats and heavy mood against a slate sky – carried a stark power. By the time Trump returned to Washington, it had been revealed that Joe Kent, the administration’s director of the US national counterterrorism centre until his abrupt resignation on Tuesday, was about to give an interview on The Tucker...