U.k. envoy resigns in furor over insults

Trump angered by unflattering cable leaks

london • After several days of intense criticism by President donald trump, who called the British ambassador to Washington a “pompous fool” and said his administration would no longer work with him, Kim darroch on Wednesday resigned.

darroch provoked the president’s ire when a cache of secret diplomatic cables was leaked to a British tabloid over the weekend.

the memos from darroch described trump as “insecure” and his administration as “inept” and “dysfunctional.”

Prime minister theresa may stood by darroch, telling Parliament on Wednesday it was “matter of great regret that he has felt it necessary to leave his position.”

“sir Kim has given a lifetime of service to the united Kingdom and we owe him an enormous debt of gratitude,” she said in Parliament.

“Good government depends on public servants being able to give full and frank advice,” she said, adding, “I hope the house will reflect on the importance of defending our values and principles, particularly when they are under pressure.”

In his resignation letter, darroch wrote, “the current situation is making it impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like.” he noted that his posting would have been up at the end of the year, but he had decided to depart now.

darroch told staff on tuesday he could not be an effective ambassador if the administration would not deal with him — and the episode did not seem to be passing.

the White house did not go as far as to direct the state department to cut off contact with darroch. But the ambassador was prominently disinvited from a White house dinner on monday. and his aides feared trump might try to formally remove him — taking the extraordinary step of declaring him “persona non grata,” reserved for a foreign person whose entering or remaining in a country is prohibited.

also key to darroch’s decision, a person familiar with his thinking said, was the clear lack of support from Boris Johnson, who is expected to succeed may as prime minister this month.

during a televised debate tuesday evening, Johnson declined to criticize trump for his tweets criticizing darroch and may and would not promise to keep darroch on the job.

But Johnson’s opponent, current Foreign secretary Jeremy hunt, said he backed darroch. after the ambassador’s resignation, hunt said he was “deeply saddened.”

“standing up for Britain means standing up for the finest diplomats on the world. It should never have come to this,” hunt said.

White house officials suggested darroch’s departure was appropriate.