Donald Trump hits back at leaked memos calling White House inept

Jacob Jarvis8 July 2019

President Donald Trump has responded to leaked memos from the UK ambassador to the US which branded his administration as inept.

The US leader said that Sir Kim Darroch "has not served the UK well", when asked about the leaked documents.

"The ambassador has not served the UK well, I can tell you that," he said.

"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."

The messages showed some of Sir Kim's assessments of President Trump’s administration from 2017 to the present.

The memos, obtained by the Mail on Sunday, suggested that in order to communicate with the president "you need to make your points simple, even blunt".

In the cache of documents, Sir Kim said: "We don't really believe this administration is going to become substantially more normal; less dysfunctional; less unpredictable; less faction riven; less diplomatically clumsy and inept."

Kim Darroch, the UK's ambassador to the United States, called Trump's White House 'inept'
PA

The Foreign Office has since confirmed the leak of the documents will be formally investigated.

A spokesman said: "A formal leak investigation has now been initiated."

The Foreign Secretary moved to prevent damage to the transatlantic relationship and said the comments were "personal opinions" and "not the opinions of the British Government".

Jeremy Hunt said the opinions were not those of the Government
AFP/Getty Images

Jeremy 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.

"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."

In an earlier statement, a spokesman for the Foreign Office said the public would expect 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," he said.

AFP/Getty Images

"It's important that our ambassadors can offer their advice and for it to remain confidential. Our team in Washington have strong relations with the White House and no doubt these will withstand such mischievous behaviour."

Cabinet minister David Gauke condemned the "disgraceful" leak, which will now be the subject of a Civil Service inquiry, and said ambassadors should feel able to "tell the truth as they see it".

Defending Sir Kim, Mr Gauke told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: "I think ambassadors need to be able to make their honest assessment of the situation and report back to London.

"And that is what he's done."

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