Trump ordered dismissal of UK ambassador for leaked remarks
DONALD TRUMP ordered the removal of Sir Kim Darroch, Britain’s ambassador in Washington, after leaked cables showed the diplomat making disparaging comments about him, sources have told The Daily Telegraph.
In a remarkable break with diplomatic norms, the US president is understood to have told John Bolton, his national security adviser, to “get him out of here” after the cables were published in July 2019.
Mr Bolton told this newspaper that after receiving the call he then telephoned Sir Mark Sedwill, the head of the civil service, and said: “Things are going to get worse unless you can figure out how to get him out.”
It is understood Sir Mark pushed back hard, with one ex-white House source who helped manage the fallout calling him “furious” and “white hot”. But within days Sir Kim, now Lord Darroch, had quit.
A US president demanding the sacking of a British ambassador is a stark breach of precedent. A historian who once held the top US history post at Cambridge University said he could not think of a similar modern example.
The episode came to light as this newspaper spoke to more than 20 people who witnessed UK-US contact up close under Mr Trump and obtained details of official meeting notes, revealing the strains placed on the special relationship. It can also be reported that:
The White House repeatedly lobbied for Mr Trump to stay in Buckingham Palace on a state visit as Barack Obama had done before, sources said
White House advisers feared Mr Trump would have a “hissy fit” if he saw protesters and worked with UK officials to avoid that happening, according to a Washington aide
Sir Mark complained to Mr Trump’s top national security adviser in an email seen by The Telegraph about a presidential tweet which he called “inaccurate, meddlesome and offensive”
Mr Trump repeatedly urged Theresa May, the then prime minister, to take a tougher stance in Brexit talks to create “leverage” and was frustrated she ignored his advice, sources said
The US president privately expressed his opposition to Scottish independence and feared it would lead to the end of the Open golf tournament.
The spat over the ambassador was
triggered when The Mail on Sunday published leaked diplomatic cables. In the memos Lord Darroch described Mr Trump as “radiating insecurity” and called his early administration “inept”.
Mr Bolton, who then was White House national security adviser, told The Telegraph: “I think the morning they appeared Trump called me and said ‘get him out of here’.” He added: “So I called [Sir Mark] Sedwill. It was out in the press in Britain, obviously everybody knew about it.
“I said, ‘This isn’t going to end well, you’ve got to pull him out.’ He didn’t want to do it, obviously. And I said, ‘I understand why you don’t want to do it. I’m just saying we’re at a point here where things are going to get worse unless you can figure out how to get him out.’ So that dragged on for a couple of days until I think they finally figured this was not a plus for anybody and then withdrew him.”
Tony Badger, the former Paul Mellon professor of American History at Cambridge University – its most prestigious US history position – said he could not recall another modern president ever ordering the removal of a British ambassador. Lord Darroch eventually resigned.
That came after Boris Johnson, then the front-runner in the Tory leadership race, declined to say in a TV debate he would keep Lord Darroch as ambassador if he won. The cables were published on July 7 2019. Lord Darroch announced his resignation on July 10.
Lord Darroch and the White House did not respond to requests for comment.