Britain scrambled yesterday to stem the damage to its relations with Washington by finding the leaker of diplomatic cables in which the United Kingdom ambassador called United States President Donald Trump “inept”.
The confidential telegrams from ambassador Kim Darroch created a political firestorm in London after their publication in the Mail on Sunday newspaper. One of them called Trump’s White House “uniquely dysfunctional” while another characterised the US leader as “incompetent” and “insecure”. Darroch’s term expires in January.
“Our ambassadors provide honest, unvarnished assessments of politics in their country,” a
Downing Street spokesman said. “As you’d expect, contact has been made with the Trump administration setting out our view that we believe the leak is unacceptable.” Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the culprit would face “very serious consequences if and when we find out who was responsible”.
His US affairs deputy Alan Duncan later told parliament that the police could launch their own investigation “if evidence of criminality is found. “The most important focus is to establish who is responsible for this despicable leak,” Duncan said.
Their release came just a month after Trump visibly enjoyed himself during a state visit that included a 41-gun salute welcome at Buckingham Palace and a banquet dinner with the queen.
They also threatened to complicate London’s efforts to strike a new US trade agreement that could mitigate potential damage from Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union.
Trump fired back by saying that people in his administration were “not big fans” of London’s man in Washington. “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,” Trump told reporters.
UK officials defended Darroch as a professional who was carrying out his duties by providing “frank” assessments of the latest developments in Washington.