The British High Commissioner for the United States, Kim Darroch, criticized President Donald Trump as “incompetent” and that he is headed towards a disgraceful end in a number of diplomatic cables released by the Daily Mail on Sunday.
Mr Darroch sent his bosses back to the Home Office in London between 2017 and this month in the form of cables and briefing notes, the newspaper revealed.
He chastened the government of Mr Trump as “uniquely dysfunctional” and frequently engages in “knife fights,” warning that the administration might end in “disgrace.”
The Home Office did not dispute the memos ‘ reliability but said they were nothing uncommon as all nations expect their ambassadors to give an honest evaluation of their host country’s position.
The department also said that the messages from Mr Darroch were his private views and do not necessarily reflect the UK government’s stance and policies.
A former UK National Security Advisor, Mr Darroch, 65. Government and career diplomat, since January 2016, has been the UK man in Washington. The memos were published before an case on the partnership between the two nations by the National Security Council.
The Sunday Mail also noted that Mr Darroch did not rule out that Mr Trump was indebted to “dodgy Russians,” but added that the president had often overcome a life “mired by scandal.”
Mr Trump firmly rejected connections with Russia, and the supposed Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections that brought Mr Trump to power did not consider him guilty of a separate investigation.
Mr Trump may “emerge from the flames, battered but intact, like [Arnold] Schwarzenegger in the final scenes of ‘The Terminator,’” Mr Darroch further said. “Do not write him off.”
The leak emerged a month after Mr Trump was hosted to a state dinner in early June by Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Theresa May.
Mr Darroch said Mr Trump and his team had been “dazzled” by the high-profile visit despite remaining self-interested.
The Foreign Office said in a statement to the U.K. Press Association that “the British public would expect our ambassadors to provide ministers with an honest, unvarnished assessment of the politics in their country.”
The comments by ambassadors are “not necessarily” the views of the government, the office said.
The White House and the British Embassy in Washington have not issued any statement about the leaks.
