British envoy resigns after Trump feud
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 his post.
Darroch provoked the president’s ire when a cache of secret diplomatic cables were 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 — and she told Parliament on Wednesday it was a “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.
White House officials suggested Darroch’s departure was appropriate.
“I think the reality was that, in light of the last few days, his ability to be effective was probably limited,” Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, told reporters in Washington on Wednesday. “So it was probably the right course.”
Trump claimed that Darroch was “not liked or well thought of within the U.S.” But senior political figures in Washington expressed disappointment at the ambassador’s departure.
Sen. Mark Warner, DVa., vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote: “@KimDarroch was an outstanding Ambassador who served his country with honesty and integrity. He was a true friend to the United States, and it’s a shame to see him go.”
One British government official with knowledge of the affair said it was ironic Darroch was pushed from his post over the leaked memos, as much of the critical material in the cables — about White House infighting and competencies — came from Trump’s own aides.
Simon McDonald, the head of British diplomatic service, was asked at a parliamentary hearing if he knew of any other examples where a “head of state of a friendly government has refused to cooperate with any of Her Majesty’s envoys?”
“None,” he replied.