British ambassador to U.S. resigns after leaked memos showed he criticized Trump – NBC News
LONDON — The British ambassador to the United States resigned Wednesday following leaked memos that showed he had called President Donald Trump “insecure” and “incompetent.”
Sir Kim Darroch said in a statement that the fallout from the leaked communications — which sparked a series of broadsides from Trump — was “making it impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like.”
After the secret diplomatic communications were published this weekend, the president responded with a series of unprecedented attacks on the British ambassador and prime minister, historically among Washington’s closest allies.
Trump called Darroch “wacky,” “very stupid” and a “pompous fool,” and suggested he would not be able to do his job in Washington because “we will no longer deal with him.” The ambassador was uninvited from a dinner Trump was hosting with the Emir of Qatar.
The president expanded his targets to Prime Minister Theresa May, saying he had been “very critical” of her and the “mess” she had made of her Brexit negotiations.
Darroch was due to stand down at the end of this year, but he said in a statement issued through the U.K. Foreign Office that the leak had made his position untenable.
“The current situation is making it impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like,” he said. “I believe in the current circumstances the responsible course is to allow the appointment of a new ambassador.”
He said the support offered on both sides of the Atlantic had “brought home to me the depth of friendship and close ties between our two countries.”
He added that “the professionalism and integrity of the British civil service is the envy of the world. I will leave it full of confidence that its values remain in safe hands.”
Prime Minister May said that “it is a matter of great regret that he has felt it necessary to leave his position.” In a statement to the House of Commons, she stressed it was important for diplomats to be able to speak their minds and to “defend our values and principles, particularly when they are under pressure”
Simon McDonald, the most senior official at the Foreign Office, spoke on behalf of many experienced officials in Britain who believe that Darroch did nothing wrong in expressing his sincerely held belief about Trump’s White House.
“You were the target of a malicious leak, you were simply doing your job,” he wrote Wednesday.
Lord Ricketts, the former British ambassador to Paris, said Darroch was the victim of “political sabotage.”
The leak presented a dilemma for Britain. Some acknowledged that the messages, and Trump’s reaction, would make Darroch’s last few months near impossible. But many were also cautious of the U.K. being seen to allow other countries to veto the diplomats posted to their embassies.
“We should never allow any country to dictate who we send as ambassador,” Charles Parton, who served as a British diplomat for almost four decades, told NBC News before Darroch’s resignation. “It would give enormous power to other countries, so you just can’t do it.”
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