British ambassador, now target of Trump’s ire, has
Washington wired
Kim Darroch is known as a garrulous and popular figure who
rarely lets his diplomatic mask slip in public at his famously lavish parties.
By NAHAL TOOSI
AND DANIEL LIPPMAN 7/10/19, 4:55 AM
CET Updated 7/10/19, 9:54 AM CET
When British Ambassador Kim Darroch went to the White House
days after Donald Trump was inaugurated, the new U.S. president greeted him
warmly, noting that he’d watched Darroch being interviewed on Fox News.
“You’re going to be a TV star!” Trump told Darroch.
It was a jovial moment, according to two people Darroch told
about the encounter, and it was one reason that the British envoy — in public
and private — has described Trump as “charming.”
But new reports that Darroch privately dissed Trump’s team
as “dysfunctional” and “inept” in leaked cables back to the British foreign
ministry have set off a diplomatic spat and soured Trump on the diplomat. The
president has spent two days obsessively tweeting about Darroch, claiming he
doesn’t even know him, that the Brit is a “very stupid guy” and a “pompous
fool” and — most astoundingly — insisting the U.S. will no longer deal with
Darroch.
Yet in Washington, Darroch is widely liked and
well-connected in U.S. government circles, having cultivated close ties to some
of the president’s top aides, whom he regularly has seen in business and social
settings. The ambassador to the U.S. since early 2016, he is a garrulous figure
who rarely lets his diplomatic mask slip in public. He also throws famously
lavish parties in his stately residence next to the massive British Embassy and
always has a fun toast to make.
Trump aides and confidants who have attended his soirees
include White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross
and former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Darroch and his
embassy even hosted a September 2017 engagement party for Katie Walsh, Trump’s
former deputy chief of staff, and her beau Mike Shields, which several Trump
aides, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, attended. Matthew Whitaker
celebrated the new year during his brief stint as acting attorney general at
the British Embassy, where Darroch oversaw the festivities.
“I do not know the Ambassador, but he is not liked or well
thought of within the U.S. We will no longer deal with him” — U.S. President
Donald Trump
Now, almost overnight, the ambassador risks going from
bipartisan Washington convener to ostracized foreigner at Trump’s direction.
The fallout reflects how quickly Trump can turn on a top ally’s envoy — and
insist that Washington turn with him. It’s also another example of Trump’s
willingness to shatter diplomatic norms with the United Kingdom, which claims a
“special relationship” with the United States.
“It drags one of the most important U.S. relationships
internationally through the mud at the very highest levels,” said Jeff Rathke,
a former Foreign Service officer and Europe analyst who has served in multiple
administrations. “Even if it is temporarily satisfying for President Trump in
some way, it is bad for the relationship because it undermines confidence and
trust.”
The irony, said one person close to the Trump administration
who’s been to Darroch’s parties, is that “a lot of folks from the White House
actually say the exact same things” about the internal dynamics there. “They
were probably saying those things to him.”
The fracas started on the weekend, when the Mail on Sunday
published a story detailing the contents of secret cables that Darroch had sent
to London offering his analysis and views on the Trump administration starting
in 2017. According to the British news outlet, Darroch described internal
divisions in the White House as “knife fights,” warned Trump could lead the
U.S. to war with Iran and described the administration overall as “chaotic,”
predicting it would not become “less dysfunctional; less unpredictable; less
faction riven; less diplomatically clumsy and inept.”
Darroch wrote that Trump “radiates insecurity” and has “no
filter.” But he also warned officials in London: “Do not write him off.”
On Monday, Trump lashed out: “I do not know the Ambassador,
but he is not liked or well thought of within the U.S. We will no longer deal
with him.” By Tuesday, Trump seemed even more angry, tweeting: “The wacky
Ambassador that the U.K. foisted upon the United States is not someone we are
thrilled with, a very stupid guy.... I don’t know the Ambassador but have been
told he is a pompous fool.”
On both occasions, Trump also used his tweets to attack
outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May, who he said had failed to take his
advice on how to negotiate Brexit with the EU. “She went her own foolish
way-was unable to get it done,” Trump wrote.
So far, the British government has stood up for Darroch,
noting that it’s his duty as a diplomat to offer “honest, unvarnished” analysis
to his superiors back home. “Sir Kim Darroch continues to have the Prime
Minister’s full support," a U.K. spokesman said.
And the State Department has said it will still work with
Darroch — for now.
“We will continue to deal with all accredited individuals
until we get any further guidance from the White House or the president, which
we will, of course, abide by the president’s direction,” spokeswoman Morgan
Ortagus said during a news conference, describing the U.S.-U.K. relationship as
“bigger than any individual” and “bigger than any government.”
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
I have been very
critical about the way the U.K. and Prime Minister Theresa May handled Brexit.
What a mess she and her representatives have created. I told her how it should
be done, but she decided to go another way. I do not know the Ambassador, but
he is not liked or well....
121K
8:31 PM - Jul 8, 2019
Twitter Ads info and privacy
54.6K people are talking about this
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
· Jul 8, 2019
I have been very
critical about the way the U.K. and Prime Minister Theresa May handled Brexit.
What a mess she and her representatives have created. I told her how it should
be done, but she decided to go another way. I do not know the Ambassador, but
he is not liked or well....
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
....thought of within the U.S. We will no longer deal with
him. The good news for the wonderful United Kingdom is that they will soon have
a new Prime Minister. While I thoroughly enjoyed the magnificent State Visit
last month, it was the Queen who I was most impressed with!
114K
8:31 PM - Jul 8, 2019
Twitter Ads info and privacy
42.4K people are talking about this
For his part, Darroch worked as usual on Tuesday from his
embassy office on Massachusetts Avenue. He also went to Capitol Hill to meet
with Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley (Republican-Iowa) and
Representative George Holding (Republican-North Carolina). However, he did not
join a meeting between Liam Fox, a top British trade official, and Ivanka
Trump, the president’s adviser and daughter. Fox had said he would apologize
for the leak during the meeting.
Darroch, who did not respond to a request for comment, has
spent decades as a diplomat, holding top positions such as national security
adviser to former British Prime Minister David Cameron before coming to
Washington. He’s done tours in Tokyo and Rome, and dealt with Middle Eastern
and Adriatic issues, according to his embassy biography.
His appointment to the ambassador post in Washington is
something of a career capstone — the position is considered the most
prestigious ambassadorship in the U.K. foreign service and often goes to senior
diplomats in the final years of their career.
The 65-year-old was born in Northern England and attended
Durham University. He studied zoology but joined the U.K.’s diplomatic ranks in
1977. He is referred to as “Sir Kim” because of his appointment as a “Knight
Commander” in 2008.
Some former officials and analysts believe what made Darroch
a target for whoever leaked his critical memos is the ambassador’s extensive
experience with European Union issues. He spent many years dealing with U.K.-EU
relations, including having served as Britain’s representative to the regional
bloc in Brussels. During a party in Washington months after the British voted
to leave the EU, Darroch remarked wryly that his EU experience was “obviously
time well spent.”
The belief in some corners is that the leaks of the cables
were orchestrated by supporters of Brexit who want to make sure that the next
British ambassador in the United States is on their side. Others suspect Russia
may be behind the leaks similar to the way Moscow is accused of hacking the
Democratic National Committee’s emails.
Sally Quinn, a journalist who’s attended parties at the
British Embassy, said what Darroch wrote in the cables reflects what most
foreign ambassadors in Washington also privately think.
“What Kim Darroch said is what all the ambassadors or most
of them think, even the ones who particularly cozy up to the Trump people” like
ambassadors from Middle Eastern countries, Quinn said. “They’re just lucky that
their reports have not been hacked.”
Darroch has always been respectful to Trump administration
officials in private, according to people who know him. At parties he has
hosted, he would note how honored he was to have senior officials from the
Trump administration attending, and they would return the bonhomie.
“Oh, we love the British — go Brexit!” one senior Trump
administration official told Darroch at a small private dinner last year, prompting
the British ambassador to laugh.
Darroch’s dilemma has now become an issue in the British
Conservative Party’s internal race to replace May as prime minister. That
contest is down to front-runner Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary and
a Brexit advocate, and Jeremy Hunt, the current foreign secretary who supported
remaining in the EU during the 2016 referendum.
Hunt on Tuesday tweeted support for Darroch, whom he said
was simply doing his job by sending honest analysis to London.
“Allies need to treat each other with respect as
@theresa_may has always done with you,” he wrote, addressing Trump.
“Ambassadors are appointed by the UK government and if I become PM our
Ambassador stays.”
Johnson has stressed that he has a “good relationship” with
the White House, avoiding addressing Trump’s comments directly. But Nigel
Farage, a fellow Brexiteer whom Trump has suggested should be the British
ambassador in Washington, bulldozed into the controversy. “Kim Darroch is
totally unsuitable for the job and the sooner he is gone the better,” Farage
tweeted.
If for whatever reason Darroch is allowed to stay and Trump
follows through on his threat to bar U.S. officials from dealing with him,
Darroch could find his final days as a diplomat rather lonely.
Despite Darroch’s positive reputation in the foreign policy
establishment, some observers pointed out that the insights he offered in his
memos weren’t all that original.
“You could have pulled it from pages of The New York Times,”
said a senior Conservative British lawmaker, who asked not to be named. In
fact, Trump’s “overreaction” arguably proved correct Darroch’s assessment about
the volatility of his administration, the lawmaker added.
Robin Niblett, director of the London-based Chatham House
think tank, said Trump’s assault may be an opportunistic attempt to gain
“leverage” over the next British prime minister.
“In essence, it’s, ‘You will need to buy back my love,’”
Niblett said. “There’s plenty of issues on which the U.S. wants to influence
U.K. foreign policy going forward: Iran sanctions, [the Chinese tech firm]
Huawei and a U.S.-U.K. trade deal.”
Darroch was expected to leave his post, and possibly retire,
in January 2020. The fortuitous timing could give the next prime minister a
chance to possibly sit tight and quietly move him on without appearing to have
caved to Trump.
If Johnson wins the prime minister’s slot, he might recall
the envoy. But if for whatever reason Darroch is allowed to stay and Trump
follows through on his threat to bar U.S. officials from dealing with him,
Darroch could find his final days as a diplomat rather lonely.
The dust up is already affecting his ability to socialize.
On Tuesday, a person familiar with the matter confirmed the White House had
disinvited Darroch from a dinner on Monday night in honor of the visiting emir
of Qatar.
Charlie Cooper contributed to this report from London.
Authors:
Nahal Toosi and
Daniel Lippman
Trump lashes out at 'foolish' May as crisis over ambassador
grows
US commerce secretary pulls out of trade talks as president
calls envoy ‘very stupid’
Rowena Mason, Patrick Wintour, and Sabrina Siddiqui in
Washington
Tue 9 Jul 2019 20.20 BST First published on Tue 9 Jul 2019
13.40 BST
Transatlantic tensions over the British ambassador’s leaked
criticisms of Donald Trump have grown into a diplomatic crisis after the US
president attacked Sir Kim Darroch as “a pompous fool” and his commerce
secretary postponed planned trade talks with Liam Fox.
A day after Trump said he would no longer deal with Darroch
following the release of UK diplomatic memos calling him “incompetent”, “inept”
and “insecure”, he used his Twitter feed to attack the diplomat, who he
described as “wacky” and “very stupid”.
The president also volleyed a series of insults at Theresa
May, calling her “foolish” and saying her Brexit plan had been a disaster
because she ignored his advice.
The controversy escalated further as Jeremy Hunt, the
foreign secretary and Conservative leadership candidate, responded by calling
the president’s language “disrespectful and wrong”.
In Tuesday night’s Conservative leadership debate, Hunt
reiterated his support for Darroch and said that he would keep him in place
were he to become prime minister. Frontrunner Boris Johnson was more limited in
his criticism of Trump, saying that a good relationship with the US was “of
fantastic importance”. And he refused to say that he would back Darroch if he
won the contest.
The difficulty of the ambassador’s position had become clear
earlier when he withdrew from a White House meeting he was due to attend in
Washington with Fox, the international trade secretary, and Trump’s daughter
and adviser Ivanka.
A government source said that after the meeting went ahead
with no mention of the controversy and no apology from Fox, a later session
with the commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, was abruptly called off.
A British government source claimed that the cancellation
was the result of “a diary clash” on Ross’s side while a US commerce department
spokesperson said: “The department is working to reschedule today’s meeting to
a mutually agreeable time.”
Despite Trump’s refusal to deal with Darroch any more, Hunt,
who is up against Boris Johnson in the race to succeed May, said he would keep
the ambassador in place if he were to become prime minister. Downing Street
also offered Darroch its full support, describing him as “a highly respected
and dutiful public servant” who had the prime minister’s full confidence.
But Trump’s repeated criticisms, the latest of them issued
in his now familiar early morning tweets, have deepened the sense that
Darroch’s role may become untenable.
In messages posted shortly before 8am, Trump again condemned
Darroch and renewed his criticism of the prime minister over her Brexit
negotiations, which he had praised on his state visit to the UK just over a
month ago.
“The wacky ambassador that the UK foisted upon the United
States is not someone we are thrilled with, a very stupid guy,” Trump wrote.
“He should speak to his country, and Prime Minister May, about their failed
Brexit negotiation, and not be upset with my criticism of how badly it was
handled.
“I told her how to do that deal, but she went her own foolish
way – was unable to get it done. A disaster! I don’t know the ambassador but
have been told he is a pompous fool. Tell him the USA now has the best economy
and military anywhere in the world, by far and they are both only getting
bigger, better and stronger.”
In response to that attack, Hunt said: “[Donald Trump],
friends speak frankly so I will: these comments are disrespectful and wrong to
our prime minister and my country. Your diplomats give their private opinions
to [Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state], and so do ours!
“You said the UK/US
alliance was the greatest in history and I agree but allies need to treat each
other with respect as Theresa May has always done with you. Ambassadors are
appointed by the UK government and if I become PM our ambassador stays.”
The row began when the Mail on Sunday printed extracts of
confidential memos in which Darroch issued wide-ranging criticisms of Trump’s
administration. The US president gave a relatively measured response on Sunday
saying he was not a big fan of Darroch, but then announced on Monday he would
no longer deal with the ambassador.
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
The wacky Ambassador
that the U.K. foisted upon the United States is not someone we are thrilled
with, a very stupid guy. He should speak to his country, and Prime Minister
May, about their failed Brexit negotiation, and not be upset with my criticism
of how badly it was...
90.8K
1:48 PM - Jul 9, 2019
In a pointed riposte to Trump’s criticisms of May’s Brexit
negotiations, May’s spokesman noted the president’s comments at a joint press
conference during his state visit to the UK “in which he said she brought the
negotiations to a very good point, and that the PM deserved a lot of credit.
And as you know, nothing further has happened in the Brexit negotiations since
then.”
The spokesman declined to say why Darroch was not
accompanying Fox to the White House, saying the ambassador was “supporting Liam
Fox on his trip in other ways”. It is understood Darroch took the decision
himself to avoid putting Ivanka Trump in a difficult position.
Darroch has been prevented by Trump from attending a dinner
for the Emir of Qatar, but the Foreign Office was reassured this was a one-off,
and it does not denote he is being debarred from future events or meetings.
Hunt is understood to believe the next British ambassador to
Washington should be a career diplomat, since to do otherwise would probably be
seen to be giving a victory to the leakers. Washington was not named as one of
the postings that should be open to outside appointments, Foreign Office sources
also pointed out.
The foreign secretary has been in touch with Darroch to
offer his personal support, and there has been no discussion of him leaving his
post early.
On Tuesday morning, May gave the same message to the weekly
meeting of her cabinet, condemning the leak to the Mail on Sunday as “utterly
unacceptable”.
Describing May’s words to cabinet, her spokesman said: “The
prime minister said that while at the same time the views expressed in the
documents are not necessarily the views of ministers or the government, it is
hugely important that ambassadors are able to provide honest, unvarnished
assessments of the politics in their country. She said it is therefore
absolutely right that we continue to give Sir Kim Darroch our full support.”
Boris Johnson dodges questions on US ambassador staying in
office
Front-runner to become UK prime minister refuses to say
whether Kim Darroch should finish his term.
By CHARLIE
COOPER 7/9/19, 11:47 PM CET
Updated 7/10/19, 9:54 AM CET
LONDON — Boris Johnson, the front-runner to become the
U.K.'s next prime minister, repeatedly refused to say Tuesday whether he would
keep the British ambassador to the U.S. in office if he wins the top job later
this month.
Speaking during the first one-on-one debate of the
Conservative leadership contest, Johnson defended Donald Trump, who has
attacked both the ambassador, Kim Darroch, and outgoing Prime Minister Theresa
May in the past 24 hours, over leaked diplomatic cables critical of the U.S.
president's administration.
While acknowledging that personally criticizing Darroch was
not "the right thing for him to do," Johnson insisted Trump had been
"dragged into a British political debate" and refused to say whether
he would be happy to see Darroch serve the rest of his term, which is expected
to end in January 2020.
"I'm not going to be so presumptuous," Johnson
said.
Johnson's opponent, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, repeated
an earlier condemnation of Trump, saying his comments about May were
"unacceptable." Among other criticisms, Trump said May's approach to
Brexit had been "foolish." Hunt said that if he became prime
minister, Darroch would serve until the end of this term.
Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt go head to head on British TV
| Matt Frost/ITV via Getty Images
Johnson remains the favored candidate among the 160,000
Conservative members who will decide the next leader, according to polls, and
barring a major upset is likely to take office on July 24.
His transition team plans to engage intensively and early
with the Trump administration to signal to the EU that the U.K. is determined
to be able to reap the benefits of an independent trade policy after Brexit by
securing a free-trade agreement with Washington. Johnson said he has a
"very good relationship with the White House" and appeared
determined, throughout the debate, not to overtly criticize the president.
During the rest of the prickly face-off on ITV, Johnson and
Hunt retraced the key differences in their positions on Brexit, with Johnson
vowing yet again to take the U.K. out of the EU with or without a deal on
October 31, insisting he would get the U.K. off "the hamster wheel of
doom" of its grinding Brexit debate.
Hunt pledged that he would aim to leave on October 31, the
current legal exit date, but would not promise something he could not be sure
to deliver, noting that parliament would likely block a no-deal exit,
precipitating a general election.
The two men also differ on whether they would be willing to
suspend parliament to force through a no-deal exit. Johnson once again refused
to rule out the drastic measure, while Hunt warned that the last time such a
thing happened "we actually had a civil war ... my answer to that is
no."
Without a deal, the U.K. will be subject to third country
tariff and non-tariff barriers on trade with the EU.
Johnson said the U.K. would be "ready" to leave on
October 31, without a deal if necessary, and insisted, as he has throughout the
campaign, that persuading the EU of its willingness to do so is vital in
forcing Brussels to rewrite May's Brexit deal.
He repeated that on the key sticking point of avoiding
checks and infrastructure at the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland,
inspections on goods could be done away from the frontier, and that if these
processes were not ready by October 31, the two sides could use a standstill
"implementation period" to set them up.
The EU has repeatedly said that the existing Withdrawal
Agreement will not be renegotiated and that the implementation period is
conditional on a deal being done.
Without a deal, the U.K. will be subject to third-country
tariff and non-tariff barriers on trade with the EU.
Hunt accused Johnson of "peddling optimism"
without due attention to detail. "You ask him a question, he puts a smile
on your face and you forget what the question was. Brilliant quality for a
politician, maybe not for a prime minister," he said of his opponent.
Authors:
Charlie Cooper
ccooper@politico.eu
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