Bizarre, International, Politics

Updated: British Government Stands Behind Ambassador Who Called Trump “Inept,” “Insecure,” and “Incompetent”
Sir_Kim_Darroch
UK Government

Trump may have just polled his best numbers with citizens, but one opposing view is clearly Britain’s Ambassador to Washington, Sir Kim Darroch.  Leaked secret memos shows Darroch describing Trump as “inept,” “insecure” and “incompetent.”  The disclosure could present serious problems for not just Darroch but U.S./U.K. relations. Trump is notoriously sensitive to such criticism and Great Britain will now have to consider whether Darroch should be recalled in the interests of diplomacy. Update: The British government has supported their ambassador for offering his good-faith and honest opinions. Trump later responded and said “We are not big fans of that man and he has not served the UK well … I can say things about him but I won’t bother.”

The incident shows how damaging leaks can be on diplomatic relations.  These were clearly frank assessment meant to be shared in a strictly confidential setting.

Darroch paints a bleak picture of the competency of both Trump and his Administration: “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.” He express doubt that the Administration will “ever look competent” and expects it to remain “mired in scandal.” He also suggests that Trump could be under some level of influence by Russia.  In a letter to National Security Adviser Sir Mark Sedwill sent on June 22, 2017 he stressed that “the worst cannot be ruled out” in terms of Russian connections or control.

Sir Kim Darroch has an extensive diplomatic and public service record. He is highly regarded in Washington as well the world at large.  He has an impressive portfolio covering high positions with the European Union, national security agencies, and of course foreign postings.  His unvarnished views of Trump and his Administration were obviously valued in London given his accomplished history.  It is also notably that many of these communications are from the first year of the Trump Administration.

Darroch’s description of the White House as “uniquely dysfunctional” is shared by many (including supporters) who have been baffled by the continued missteps.  However, this is the person who is the point of contact for relations with Great Britain.  The damaging leak undermines the first and foremost principle for diplomats: never make yourself the issue.  Assuming that he was not the source of the leak, this is hardly the fault of Darroch who must be able to share frank thoughts with his government. Whoever leaked these messages could not have put Darroch in a worse position as a diplomat now associated with assessments that are . . . well . . . undiplomatic.

On Sunday, the government issued a defense of its ambassador: “The British public would expect our 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. Just as the U.S. Ambassador here will send back his reading of Westminster politics and personalities.”

145 thoughts on “Updated: British Government Stands Behind Ambassador Who Called Trump “Inept,” “Insecure,” and “Incompetent””

  2. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-48901624
    Maybe they’ll get Christopher Steele to investigate this. Mueller is available now that he’s done with the OSC job, and Comey might be someone they’d consider as well to head the investigation.
    I hope that the media follows every twist and turn of the investigation over the coming months/ years until the one(s) responsible for leaking this are brought to brutish British justice.

    1. HIGHLIGHTS OF TOM’S BBC POST

      Although Sir Kim said Mr Trump was “dazzled” by his state visit to the UK in June, the ambassador warned that his administration will remain self-interested, adding: “This is still the land of America First”.

      Differences between the US and the UK on climate change, media freedoms and the death penalty might come to the fore as the countries seek to improve trading relations after Brexit, the memos said.

      To get through to the president, “you need to make your points simple, even blunt”, he said.

      The leader of the Brexit party, Nigel Farage, has criticised Sir Kim for his comments, branding the ambassador “totally unsuitable for the job” and saying the “sooner he is gone the better”.

      However, Justice Secretary David Gauke said it was very important that ambassadors gave “honest and unvarnished advice to their country”.

      He said: “It is disgraceful that it’s been leaked, but we should expect our ambassadors to tell the truth, as they see it.”

      In a message sent last month, Sir Kim branded US policy on Iran as “incoherent, chaotic”.

      Mr Trump’s publicly stated reason for calling off an airstrike against Tehran with 10 minutes to go – that it would cause 150 casualties – “doesn’t stand up”, Sir Kim said.
      Instead, he suggested the president was “never fully on board” and did not want to reverse his campaign promise not to involve the US in foreign conflicts.
      ‘Infighting and chaos’

      Sir Kim said it was “unlikely that US policy on Iran is going to become more coherent any time soon” because “this is a divided administration”.

      The leaked files date from 2017 to the present day, covering the ambassador’s early impressions that media reports of “vicious infighting and chaos” in the White House were “mostly true”.

      They also give an assessment of allegations about collusion between the Trump election campaign and Russia, saying “the worst cannot be ruled out”. The investigation by Robert Mueller has since found those claims were not proven.

      A Foreign Office spokesman said the views of diplomats were “not necessarily the views of ministers or indeed the government. But we pay them to be candid”.

      He said ministers and civil servants would handle this advice “in the right way” and ambassadors should be able to offer it confidentially.

      The UK embassy in Washington has “strong relations” with the White House and these would continue, despite “mischievous behaviour” such as this leak, the spokesman said.

      Edited from: “Inquiry Launched Into ‘Inept’ Trump-Linked Emails”

      Today’s BBC

      1. LEAK ILLUSTRATES WHY HILLARY DELETED EMAILS

        This passage from the above BBC story is very telling:

        However, Justice Secretary David Gauke said it was very important that ambassadors gave “honest and unvarnished advice to their country”.

        He said: “It is disgraceful that it’s been leaked, but we should expect our ambassadors to tell the truth, as they see it.”
        …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

        Yes, Ambassadors have to give honest and unvarnished advice to their country. The same is true for Secretary’s of State. They have to use honest, unvarnished language in their daily messaging. But when such language is revealed to the public through leaks, hacks or congressional subpoenas, it can cause an uproar.

        1. “LEAK ILLUSTRATES WHY HILLARY DELETED EMAILS”

          Right, Hillary deleted the emails not because the Russians or Chinese might see them (which they probably did) rather that Congress in closed doors might see them or read her hard drive. She was even more afraid that Americans might read them and learn how bad a leader she would make.

          Today we don’t need her emails to see what a bad leader she would have been as she has shown us this side of her over and over again.

  4. And so? Why is that important. Or are the Brits sending us illegals to vote or just to right fake dossiers? Besides couldn’t be a brit.. isn’t a middle easterner

    1. Why is this important?

      In Jumanji 2 film, Kevin Hart charging into the frame on an elephant, screaming “Zoology, b_tch!” – is the only response to this Brit diplomat: thoughtless, nonsensical, and aggressively unbefitting its target audience

  5. CONTENT OF ESTOVIR’S LINK:

    Kim’s diplomatic career spans three decades and has been primarily focussed on national security issues and European Union policy.

    Kim served as the Prime Minister’s National Security Advisor, from January 2012 to September 2015 acting as Secretary of the National Security Council and leading the National Security Team on issues such as the rise of Daesh in Iraq and Syria, Russian aggression in Ukraine, the nuclear threat from Iran and the collapse of government authority in Libya.

    Prior to his appointment as National Security Advisor, Kim served in Brussels as the UK Permanent Representative to the European Union from 2007 to 2011, representing UK interests in areas such as enlargement, the aftermath of the financial crisis, and the issues around European integration. From 2004 to 2007, Kim served as EU Advisor to the Prime Minister and Head of the Cabinet Office European Secretariat.

    Earlier in his career, Kim served in a wide range of positions and policy specialities, including Private Secretary to the Minister of State responsible for the Middle East, Head of the Adriatic Department during the Dayton Accord negotiations, and Head of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office News Department. In addition to his two postings to Brussels, Kim has completed tours in Tokyo and Rome.
    ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

    Here we note that Kim Darroch has served the British government in diplomatic-related jobs for 30 years. But Estovir seems to think Mr Darroch’s credential are questionable because the latter studied Zoology.

    Interestingly Estovir fails to note that Donald Trump had no credentials to speak of with regards to public office.

  6. QUESTIONS FOR TRUMP SUPPORTERS:

    “IS THIS STORY ‘FAKE NEWS’?

    “OR IS THE BRITISH AMBASSADOR INFLUENCED BY ‘FAKE NEWS’?

      1. Gosh, Estovir, what a witty question!

        Is this what passes for ‘comedy’ among nerdy, rightwing losers??

        1. Estovir, who’s paying ‘you’ to post all that religious crap (that has nothing to do with Turley’s columns?)

          Are you a lobbyist for some Anti-Abortion group??

        2. “among nerdy”

          This is a funny non political video explaining what a nerd is.

          1. there really is nothing nerdy to me. Renaissance man maybe but I don’t even know computer languages, find video games and social media apps a waste of time and prefer a good discussion on Saint Thomas Aquinas than reading Twitter feeds. Since Peter doesn’t know anything by Thomas Aquinas we are left with his Millennial “thinking”

            1. Since Peter doesn’t know anything by Thomas Aquinas we are left with his Millennial “thinking”

              If I’m not mistaken, Peter is past 60, just not as old as David Benson.

              1. Estovir, Tabby, religious texts and discussions on perfectly fine on venues intended for that purpose.

                But Jonathan Turley is a legal scholar admired by conservatives. Each day he addresses legal aspects of political issues. Obviously this forum is ‘not’ a religious blog.

                If I were a Scieftologist, would it be appropriate for me to present Hubbard-inspired thoughts on Professor Turley’s threads? ..No..! It would look presumptuous. Like I presumed my post was so important Turley should want to feature it.

                Not that I’m comparing the Vatican to Scientology. There is, however, a similar level of presumptuousness. That, ‘My faith is so important you must allow me to share’ mentality.

                And it makes me seriously wonder if Estovir is An Anti-Abortion activist important to Republicans. A regular at functions catering to the religious right.

                It could be that Turley, to his regret, met Estovir at one of those functions. And now Estovir presumes to cast a shadow over Turley’s blog. How does the professor tell him to ‘tone it down a bit’?

    2. Such profound questions can only be answered by Hollywood Hill himself.

  9. Studying Zoology at the undergraduate level led him to a job in the Diplomatic Service at age 23? today he has one the most prestigious positions in the Diplomatic Service? Zoology huh?

    Kim was born in the village of South Stanly, County Durham in the North of England in April 1954. He attended Durham University, where he read Zoology, and joined the Diplomatic Service in 1977.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/people/kim-darroch

  10. Amb. Darroch (Sir Kim sounds too much like something out of Monty Python, which may be appropriate given this “diplomat’s” competence), made a facile and superficial analysis typical of the Trump haters.

    What about what Pres. Trump has accomplished? What about Mueller’s report? What about what Pres. Trump is accomplishing in foreign affairs?

    The British government deserves a more reasoned and deeper analysis than what is provided by this rehash of Pinko sentiments.

    Prof. Turley talks about Amb. Darroch’s known competence; to the contrary, he sounds like a typical incompetent lifer rising through the ranks through tenure and connections.

    1. ‘rehash of Pinko sentiments’, monumentCO drools…

      Say no more.

    2. Sir Kim sounds too much like something out of Monty Python

      Good one!

      👍🏽

  11. From some of the discoveries made about FBI spying it seems that some
    British present and/or past officials might have been involved with attempts to impugn the President and potentially create an atmosphere that could lead to a soft coup against Trump.

    Maybe we should be regarding these revelations of the Ambassador as interference in internal American politics and perhaps it is the Ambassador who is really dysfunctional.

    In the meantime we watch Britain and its Brexit problem something that should have happened a long time ago if the people’s voices actually counted. Maybe Britain is having internal problems where the dysfunctional, like the Ambassador, are unable to deal with those that accept the will of the people and believe in Britain’s democracy. Maybe they need a new government that actually has people that have not been involved in politics their entire lives.

  13. Note, part of Mr. Darroch’s upset is that Trump isn’t deferential to people like Kim Darroch.

  14. If the Daily Mail is offering a fair summary of his remarks, it would appear the Ambassador’s job is to read article in The New York Times and The Washington Post and offer summaries to his supervisors. He hits one talking point after another. You think maybe our diplomatic services are all rather ornamental collections of wheel-spinners?

  15. No doubt he also has TDS. By not sending bombs to Iran, was he insecure, or just incompetent? Perhaps Inept? What a piece of scatology he is. Sir Kim, an elitist, having served high positions in the EU, a failing association of 1 government order, shows that he is just another 1 world-er who despises any high official who is against one world Bovine scatology order.

  16. Perhaps Darroch prefers Theresa May, who is so inept and incompetent she cannot manage to obey the will of voters and fulfill Brexit. She has tendered her resignation. He also supports the unelected monarchy, public figures whose immense wealth and holdings come at taxpayer expense. All they seem to do is smile, wave, and attend public functions. Expensive figure heads. Granted, I adored Dianna, and her sons, but they’re breaking the mold. ]

    These leaks are unprofessional and workplace misconduct. In addition, Darroch should be recalled for his impolitic words. He felt safe to be frank in internal communications, but as we’ve learned with Facebook, someone is always watching, and trust no one. The United States requires someone more diplomatic.

    While it is possible, of course, to work with a foreign representative who despises you, why bother for an appointed position of Ambassador, easily replaced?

  17. I would be interested to know if mr.darroch was opposed to Brexit.

    1. Perhaps he is part of the British elites who plan to keep holding referendums on Brexit until they get the answer they want.

    1. I would expect Trump to take the high road and ignore the derogatory comments.😏

  19. You’re fascinated with this stuff, but there’s nothing there. Just the general characterizations of a British official.

    Eurotrash officialdom ‘appalled’ at the latest whatever whatever by / from the Americans is a trope those of us of a certain age have heard 1,000x. Almost always out of the mouths of foreigners whose countries are less accomplished than our own (and dependent on our own). Now add a dollop of what makes the patriciate and haut bourgeois of Britain so appealing. If you look back 35 years, you can find an article in Commentary (by Carnes Lord, IIRC) taking apart this sort of Eurovanity.

    Mr. Darroch, 65, has been a public employee since he was 22 years old.

    1. Great post, TIA. If you happen across that article, please post it. I’d like to read it.

  20. Did Darroch indicate whether Trump was “incompetent” or “effing incompetent”?

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