Over the summer and autumn, the impression given by Guardianistas and other Obama fans was that once the cuddly Democrats were in charge, it’d all be internationalism and co-operation coming out of Washington.

And there is stuff in the stimulus package that brings in protectionism, especially with steel and iron.

Which leads to Lady Ashton, the European Commissioner for Trade, saying that we cannot do nothing if the sale of European coal or iron is banned.

So, one of Mr Obama’s big achievements in his first weeks in office could be to trigger a transatlantic trade war. Something that would not have happened with free-trader John McCain running the show.