Trump 'radiates insecurity' — UK ambassador to US
July 7, 2019
Leaked diplomatic cables published on Sunday revealed that the UK ambassador to Washington regards US President Donald Trump's administration as inept and hobbled by infighting.
In the series of memos — dating from 2017 to the present and leaked to the UK's Mail on Sunday newspaper — the UK ambassador to Washington, Sir Kim Darroch, said Trump radiated "insecurity."
The documents detail Darroch's assessments of the Trump administration. They were made public just weeks after Trump's state visit to the UK, during which the president and first lady were treated to a military guard of honor at Buckingham Palace.
On Sunday, Trump hit back, saying Darroch had "not served the UK well" and that he and members of his administration had not become "big fans" of the envoy.
Becoming less clumsy
Darroch delivered a scathing verdict on the state of the White House in the leaked cables, the newspaper reported.
In one 2017 memo, Darroch said: "As seen from here, we really don't believe that this administration is going to become substantially more normal, less dysfunctional, less unpredictable, less faction-riven, less diplomatically clumsy and inept."
He also advised British officials to flatter Trump. "For a man who has risen to the highest office on the planet, President Trump radiates insecurity."
Opposed to the Trump doctrine
Referring to the early allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, one memo said "the worst cannot be ruled out."
A lengthy probe by Robert Mueller published in March found no evidence that Trump and his campaign team had conspired with Russia to manipulate the 2016 presidential election.
Nigel Farage, leader of the Brexit Party, said Darroch's comments showed that Britain needs a new representative in the United States.
"Kim Darroch is totally unsuitable for the job and the sooner he is gone the better," Farage said.
Farage told the Mail on Sunday that Darroch was "the wrong person to be the British ambassador" under a Trump administration because he is "globalist in outlook, totally opposed to the Trump doctrine."
The outspoken Trump supporter had been earmarked for the top job by the president, who in 2016 tweeted that "many people would like to see Nigel Farage represent Great Britain as their Ambassador to the United States. He would do a great job!"
Britain's Foreign Office called Sunday's leak "mischievous behavior" and said the public expects diplomats to provide honest assessments of the politics in the countries where they are posted.
kw, mkg/amp (AP, dpa)