Helmut Schmidt is approaching the end of his ninth decade. He has lost little of his verve. The former German chancellor walks now with the aid of a stick but his mind is as sharp, and his views as forceful, as they ever were. He still chain-smokes, equally disdainful apparently of any effect on his health and of social proprieties. One thing, though, has changed. Chancellor Schmidt once championed the Atlantic alliance. Now he speaks scathingly of American foreign policy.

I met him the other day at a symposium convened in Berlin by the Aspen Italia institute. Contributions to this high-level gathering are traditionally off the record, but Mr Schmidt told me he was perfectly content for his views on the present US administration to be made public.