DONALD WHO?:

IF Mike Pence had not become vice president, he would have made a successful political ambassador. When travelling overseas on behalf of President Donald Trump, Mr Pence conveys just the right blend of access, loyalty and inside knowledge--"as the President said to me earlier today" is one of his favourite phrases, wheeled out several times on Sunday as he began a four-country tour of Latin America. A former governor of Indiana, he brings a reassuring, silver-haired mien and midwestern folksiness to his work. "Central casting!" as Mr Trump likes to say of his camera-ready deputy.

But beyond those workaday diplomatic skills, the vice-president brings a talent that takes him into the realm of ambassadorial greatness.  When explaining something that his tempestuous boss has just said about foreign or domestic politics, Mr Pence has the ability to polish and reinterpret those presidential words with such grave, head-shaking conviction that it seems both rude and unreasonable to doubt his version.

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