Donald Trump hits back at UK ambassador who called him 'incompetent' in leaked memos
The US president says "we're not big fans" of Sir Kim Darroch, who described Mr Trump as "incompetent", "inept" and "insecure".
Monday 8 July 2019 10:56, UK
Donald Trump has hit out at the UK ambassador to the US after a leak of sensitive memos, saying he "has not served the UK well".
In the memos, obtained by The Mail On Sunday, Sir Kim Darroch described the US president as "incompetent", "inept" and "insecure".
Sir Kim also gave a scathing assessment of the White House, saying it had become "uniquely dysfunctional" under Mr Trump because of "vicious infighting and chaos", and questioned whether it "will ever look competent".
A formal inquiry will be held into the leak of the diplomatic memos.
Officials have insisted the relationship with the White House can withstand the "mischievous behaviour" of the leak and defended Sir Kim's candid style.
Asked about the controversy in New Jersey, Mr Trump told reporters: "The ambassador has not served the UK well, I can tell you that.
"We're not big fans of that man and he has not served the UK well.
"So I can understand it and I can say things about him but I won't bother."
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who is standing to be the next Tory leader, has distanced himself from Sir Kim's remarks, saying: "This was a personal view."
He added: "It's not the view of the British government. It's not my view.
"We continue to think that under President Trump the US administration is not just highly effective but the best possible friend of the United Kingdom on the international stage."
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The memos, which detail Sir Kim's assessments of the Trump administration from 2017 to the present, suggest that in order to communicate with the president "you need to make your points simple, even blunt".
Following Mr Trump's state visit to the UK in June, Sir Kim said that although the president had been "dazzled" by the pomp and ceremony of the trip, his administration would remain self-interested and "this is still the land of America First".
In one of the most recent documents, Sir Kim refers to "incoherent, chaotic" US policy on Iran and questions Mr Trump's publicly stated reason for calling off a retaliatory airstrike against Tehran following the downing of a US drone.
The US and Iran have been at the brink of armed conflict over tensions in the Gulf, and Mr Trump stated that he called off a planned airstrike with minutes to spare because of the potentially high number of casualties.
But Sir Kim said that the explanation "doesn't stand up", and suggested it may have been motivated by Mr Trump's focus on the 2020 re-election campaign and his previous promises not to involve the US in foreign conflicts.
"It's more likely that he was never fully on board and that he was worried about how this apparent reversal of his 2016 campaign promises would look come 2020," Sir Kim said.
He said it was "unlikely that US policy on Iran is going to become more coherent any time soon" as "this is a divided administration".
Referring to early allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, the memo said "the worst cannot be ruled out".
An investigation by Robert Mueller published earlier this year cleared the Trump team of the collusion claims.
The chairman of the foreign affairs select committee, Tom Tugendhat, described the leak as "deeply damaging" and called for a police investigation.
In response to the idea the leaks had "all the hallmarks of a senior politician", Mr Tugendhat said: "Sadly that rings true. And that makes the betrayal all the more serious."
He added: "How can officials give honest advice to politicians if it is stored and leaked for petty point-scoring?"
Former defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon told Sky News the leak was "clearly a breach of the Official Secrets Act" and if whoever is responsible can be identified then "prosecutions should follow".
Sir Michael, who is backing Boris Johnson to be the next Tory leader and prime minister, added that Mr Johnson has a "very good relationship" with Mr Trump and can "smooth over any particular hurt that the president feels about this and to get that relationship back on track".
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "The British public would expect our ambassadors to provide ministers with an honest, unvarnished assessment of the politics in their country.
"Their views are not necessarily the views of ministers or indeed the government. But we pay them to be candid. Just as the US ambassador here will send back his reading of Westminster politics and personalities.
"Our team in Washington have strong relations with the White House and no doubt... these will withstand such mischievous behaviour."
The former British ambassador to the US, Sir Peter Westmacott, said the leak had put Sir Kim in an "embarrassing position".
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, he said: "Perhaps there are people at the heart of government - the distribution of the published material was, after all, very limited - who think this will persuade the incoming prime minister to appoint in his place someone less ready to speak truth to power than Sir Kim has been; or someone already regarded as a 'friend' by the Trump administration.
"Giving sensitive papers of this kind to the media is the biggest possible disincentive to ambassadors to say what they really think to ministers back home."
Nigel Farage, who Mr Trump suggested would make a perfect ambassador to the US, tweeted: "Kim Darroch is totally unsuitable for the job and the sooner he is gone the better."
However, Sky's deputy political editor, Sam Coates, said Tory leadership favourite Boris Johnson would not appoint Mr Farage to the role if elected, with a source saying "that's for the birds".