Trump blasts ‘foolish’ PM May & her ‘wacky’ envoy
LONDON, July 9
US President Donald Trump lashed out at “foolish” British Prime Minister Theresa May and her “wacky” Washington ambassador on Tuesday, stepping up a tirade against a close ally whose envoy had branded his administration inept.
May has given her full support to Washington envoy Kim Darroch after a series of memos in which he described Trump’s administration as “dysfunctional” and “diplomatically clumsy and inept” were leaked to a British newspaper on Sunday.
While ministers and May’s spokesman have stated the leaked cables were only a partial reflection of Darroch’s assessments and did not reflect the government’s views, they have infuriated Trump who fired off a second series of scathing tweets.
“The wacky Ambassador that the UK foisted upon the United States is not someone we are thrilled with, a very stupid guy,” Trump wrote, describing Darroch as a “pompous fool”.
“He should speak to his country, and Prime Minister May, about their failed Brexit negotiation, and not be upset with my criticism of how badly it was handled. I told @theresa_may how to do that deal, but she went her own foolish way, was unable to get it done. A disaster!”
May is due to leave office before the end of the month and has previously clashed with Trump over a number of issues from Muslim relations to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
However, the timing of the discord comes as Britain is hoping to strike a major trade deal with its closest ally after it leaves the European Union, an exit scheduled for October 31.
The two contenders to replace May, former London mayor Boris Johnson and foreign minister Jeremy Hunt, have both indicated they could support leaving the EU without a deal, making a future agreement with the US even more important.
Britain’s trade minister Liam Fox said he would apologise to Trump’s daughter Ivanka whom he was due to meet during a visit to Washington this week. Darroch was due to attend that meeting but had now pulled out, the BBC reported.
On Monday, Trump had tweeted that he would no longer deal with the diplomat and that it was “good news” that Britain would soon have a new prime minister.
Before Trump’s latest broadside, May’s spokesman said Darroch would stay in place with the government’s full support and that envoys had to feel confident they could share their frank assessments. “She (May) said we had made clear to the US how unfortunate this leak is, and that the extracts were selective,” PM May’s spokesman said.
Britain's so-called special relationship with the United States was one of the most enduring alliances of the 20th century, though Brexit and Trump's presidency have raised questions about its future. — Reuters
"The wacky Ambassador that the UK foisted upon the United States is not someone we are thrilled with, a very stupid guy. He should speak to his country, and Prime Minister May, about their failed Brexit negotiation, and not be upset with my criticism of how badly it was handled. I told @theresa_may how to do that deal, but she went her own foolish way, was unable to get it done. A disaster!" Donad Trump, US President
"The beleaguered diplomat has the PM’s full support and that envoys must have the freedom to provide honest assessments of the politics in their country of posting. We have made clear to the US how unfortunate this leak is. The selective extracts leaked do not reflect the closeness of, and the esteem in which we hold, the relationship." A Downing Street spokesperson
