Latest news with #LordDarroch
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Washington ambassador who quit after calling Trump ‘inept' says he was proved right
A former ambassador to the US who quit after calling Donald Trump's administration 'inept' in leaked private emails has said he was proved right. Lord Darroch resigned in 2019 after confidential cables criticising the US president's government were leaked to the media. The long-serving diplomat described Mr Trump's administration as 'dysfunctional', 'inept' and 'divided' in a series of emails from 2017. Mr Trump responded by calling Lord Darroch 'a very stupid guy' triggering a diplomatic row which eventually forced the British ambassador to step down from the post. Lord Darroch doubled down on his comments at an Edinburgh Fringe show on Tuesday, arguing that the subsequent chaos of Mr Trump's premiership proved he was 'right'. He told Ian Dale's All Talk show: 'If you're going to crash and burn on the basis of one piece of reporting that you've done, leaking, please God, make it a piece of reporting where all the predictions are right. 'I would say, if you read back that letter that was leaked, that was written after six months of Donald Trump and had a number of predictions about how the rest of his term would run, then you'd struggle to find anything that didn't turn out the way I had predicted it. 'So if that's the way to go out, it's better than the opposite.' Lord Darroch added that he had 'already' decided to retire when the row broke out. 'I was six months off finishing anyway and I had had an extraordinary, lucky career', he said. In an interview with BBC Newsnight in 2020, Lord Darroch said he knew his position was untenable when the emails became public but defended taking his plain-speaking approach. 'I never regret the terms in which I'd reported,' the former national security adviser said. 'I spent 40 years in the Foreign Office writing in these terms and people hitherto had thought it a strength and an asset. There is nothing unusual in reporting in clear and direct terms.' Speaking at Fringe, he added that it had in fact been Lord Cameron, who appointed him to the post in January 2016, who requested that he write in a more frank manner. He recalled the former prime minister saying: 'I'm fed up of reading all these letters to ambassadors which say, on the one hand, on the other hand, which are written in code. What you have to do is tell it like it is. Be clear and call out what you're seeing.' 'That letter, which was trying to give an accurate summary of how Trump's first six months had gone, was in part a response to Cameron saying tell it like it is. Don't write in code,' said Lord Darroch.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Donald Trump accused of being 'like a medieval king' who has turned 'the Oval Office into a reality TV set'
The former UK ambassador to the US has delivered a scathing rebuke of Donald Trump, accusing him of acting like a 'medieval king'. Lord Darroch said the President had turned the 'Oval Office into a reality TV set'. The former diplomat was forced to quit his role in 2019 during Mr Trump's first term after leaked briefings showed him describing the President's government as 'dysfunctional', 'inept' and 'divided'. Speaking to broadcaster Iain Dale at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Lord Darroch defended the letter, which he said was a result of then-prime minister David Cameron urging him to be honest and direct. He told the audience that his comments were borne out by Mr Trump's actions as president. The former ambassador said Mr Trump was ultimately an unpredictable leader as he cited the numerous firings of top officials by the President, the various changes to his tariff policies and the recent move to place nuclear submarines near Russia. 'He's sort of like a medieval king - that sort of capricious decision-making - than he is like a modern politician where consistency is seen as important,' he said. 'He doesn't think that's important at all. He thinks that every day is a fresh day. You're basically battling with media. 'You're battling with your opponents. If it suits you today to reverse something you did last week, just do it. 'If you look at tariffs, that's a perfect example of unpredictability of capriciousness.' Lord Darroch suggested that Mr Trump's style stemmed from his time on the US version of The Apprentice. 'Donald Trump was made by reality TV,' he said, describing him as 'the American version of Alan Sugar'. He added: 'He learned a lot about how to present himself from reality TV. 'I think he's now literally turned the Oval Office into a reality TV set.' During his discussion with Mr Dale, the former diplomat praised the Prime Minister's handling of foreign policy, including his relationship with the US President. He told the broadcaster: 'So far, against a lot of predictions, Keir Starmer has proved himself really quite an adept Trump whisperer. 'He's done some clever things, including phoning Trump up after the assassination attempt - that was a clever thing to do, going to see him to sort of kiss the ring before the election.' The peer said the Labour leader had been better on foreign policy than domestic policy, but warned the PM there were 'not many votes in foreign policy'. Asked about defence, Lord Darroch suggested the UK would not be able to cope with a Russian invasion, although he said the chances of that were low. 'The truth is I don't think we are close,' he said. 'I do think it's less distant than it was five years ago. 'I do think the important point really is that we are woefully underprepared.' Lord Darroch has been outspoken in his criticism of Mr Trump since he was forced to quit his stateside role. Mr Trump had criticised him as as a 'stupid guy' and a 'pompous fool'.
