Since Donald Trump was elected President in November of 2016, he has had a powerful booster in the dean of Washington’s diplomatic corps, Sir Kim Darroch, Britain’s ambassador to the United States.
That support came into question this past weekend by a Daily Mail report citing a series of cables and memos critical of the President and sent to the British Foreign Office by Darroch.
But sources close to the British Foreign Office told Newsmax that the paper had “cherry picked” items from the memos, written over a two year period, to misconstrue the Ambassador’s position of the president.
For instance, the Daily Mail blazed a headline that Darroch in a six-page memo had described the President Trump “inept” and “incompetent.”
But a source that has read the full memo says that is patently false.
The ambassador never called the president “inept” or “incompetent,” according to the source.
Darroch did make some personal judgements on the president, but the memos focused mainly on administration policies and personnel.
The memo is said to offer high praise of the president’s political acumen and describes him as “indestructible” against the Mueller investigation and a barrage of media criticism.
The Daily Mail report left out of its report Darroch’s glowing assessments of many Trump initiatives.
According to our source, the Ambassador praised Trump’s effort to increase NATO military spending, his decisive military action against Syria in 2017, and his courage in tackling the North Korea nuclear situation.
He also consistently encouraged British officials and Prime Minister Theresa May to engage with Trump and the administration, suggesting they were open to fresh and innovative points of view.
Still other “criticisms” made by Darroch, as reported by the Mail, were not from the ambassador himself, but came from his recitation of reports from embassy sources or news outlets like The Washington Post and New York Times.
The claims that Darroch called President Trump “chaotic” and “incoherent” are also false, according to a source familiar with the memo.
Darroch reportedly was describing the administration policy toward Iran during the opening months of the administration.
“He just doesn’t talk that way about people, and certainly not the president,” an administration source that knows Darroch, said.
The source praised Darroch for actively working with administration officials at every level in creating a positive rapport between the White House and 10 Downing Street.
His task has not been easy.
President Trump had been an early critic of outgoing Prime Minister May, suggesting she had gone soft on Brexit after British voters approved her nation’s departure from the European Union.
Darroch has been the key bridge in rebuilding the special relationship, which culminated with the president’s highly-praised trip to London last month.
The trip's success surprised many, especially the warm welcome the president and first lady received from Queen Elizabeth, the British establishment and public.
“Sir Kim has been ground zero in creating this goodwill between the White House and London,” another source close to the U.S. State Department told Newsmax.
In a rare Sunday statement, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said that the controversial statements in the memo were “personal opinions” and “not the opinions of the British government.”
Hunt, who is also a candidate for leadership of the Conservative Party to succeed May, insisted to reporters that “we continue to think that under President Trump the United States administration is both highly effective and the best possible friend of Britain on the international stage.”
Media pundits in London and Washington see the surfacing of the unusual release of secret memos as a political hit aimed at Darroch.
Darroch’s championing of Trump has earned him critics in Whitehall, many of whom would like to see him dislodged from his post.
The irony is that selective use of the material makes it appear Darroch is opposed to the president when he is not.
The British government also announced over the weekend that it had launched an investigation to find out who leaked the memos and was behind “such mischievous behavior.”
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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