American politicians break rank at Munich Security Conference to hit out at ‘destructive’ president and urge Europe to stand up to Trump

Donald Trump’s most unbridled critics at this weekend’s Munich Security Conference have not been Europeans but Americans – and not just Democrat politicians.

A few Republicans, out of earshot of the US president’s favoured Fox News, have had the courage to challenge Trump’s diet of tariffs and unpredictability.

The criticism ends what little remained of the tradition that the US delegation to the conference limits criticism of the commander in chief abroad.

The attacks came thick and fast as Democrats vied to disown Trump, or, in the case of Hillary Clinton, the former US secretary of state, to urge Europe that Trump’s chief weapon – perceived unpredictability – can be neutered by consistent push back.