Trump attacks UK ambassador to US Sir Kim Darroch over leaked memo

LONDON — Donald Trump has lambasted the United Kingdom’s ambassador to the United States over a leaked diplomatic memo describing his presidency as “dysfunctional,” “incompetent,” and “inept.”

Sir Kim Darroch was thrust into the spotlight over the weekend when remarks he made about the President Trump’s US administration, and shared with UK officials in confidence, were leaked to the Mail on Sunday newspaper.

In the notes, the UK ambassador to the US said that Trump’s government was “uniquely dysfunctional” and added: “We don’t really believe this administration is going to become substantially more normal.”

Trump hit back on Sunday, telling reporters in New Jersey that Darroch “has not served the UK well, I can tell you that” and adding: “We are 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.”

In the leaked notes, Darroch said that Trump’s presidency could “crash and burn” over alleged links to Russia.

In more recent memos, he accused the US President of not telling the truth about why at the last minute he called off a planned missile strike on Iran last month.

Trump said that the strike was called off due to concerns about civilian casualties. However, Darroch said it was more likely because it could damage his chances of re-election at the 2020 election.

The Foreign Office has launched an official inquiry into the leaked memos dating back to 2017.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who is running to replace Theresa May as prime minister, sought to distance the UK government from Darroch’s remarks about Trump, describing them as “personal opinions.”

Hunt said: “It’s really important to say that the ambassador was doing his job as an ambassador which is to give frank reports and personal opinions about what’s happening in the country where he works, and that’s his job to send back those reports but they are personal opinions, not the opinions of the British government, not my opinion.

He added: “And we continue to think that under President Trump the United States administration is both highly effective and the best possible friend of Britain on the international stage.”

The leak of sensitive diplomatic material triggered outrage in Westminster efforts begins to find who is responsible.

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said it was “unprofessional, unethical and unpatriotic.”

Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, called for those responsible to be prosecuted.

“Leaks like this are extremely damaging, not because of what they say but because they undermine the ability of ambassadors to be confident that they can communication privately the important messages that they need to share,” he said.

Defence minister Tobias Ellwood tweeted: “We have a Rolls Royce diplomatic service, thanks it’s global reach, quality of comms and integrity of our secure reporting structure. Shocking to think any UK passport holder could be so unpatriotic as to deliberately leak diplomatic cables & put self interest above country.”