Leaked UK Documents Tar Trump (UPDATED)
[Headlines from DRJ]
Daily Mail — Britain’s man in the US says Trump is ‘inept’: Leaked secret cables from ambassador say the President is ‘uniquely dysfunctional and his career could end in disgrace’:
Britain’s Ambassador to Washington has described Donald Trump as ‘inept’, ‘insecure’ and ‘incompetent’ in a series of explosive memos to Downing Street.
Sir Kim Darroch, one of Britain’s top diplomats, used secret cables and briefing notes to impugn Trump’s character, warning London that the White House was ‘uniquely dysfunctional’ and that the President’s career could end in ‘disgrace’.
His bombshell comments risk angering the notoriously thin-skinned President and undermining the UK’s ‘special relationship’ with America.
The Guardian has the bottom line:
Sometimes leaks from within the government are striking not just for their content, but also for the motive behind them.
The content of telegrams sent from Washington by Kim Darroch, Britain’s ambassador to the US, and disclosed by the Mail on Sunday, is a case in point. The leak is also striking for what it tell us about the struggle for influence at the top of a Boris Johnson-led Conservative party.
***
Much will depend on how the president, and the most likely new British prime minister react. The danger is that Trump will tweet something dismissive, but then harbour a deep grudge against Britain’s professional diplomatic service. Some might tell him the Whitehall machine is a nest of snobbish anti-populist opponents of Brexit.
The real challenge though is actually facing the likely next prime minister, Boris Johnson, who prides himself on his proximity to the Trump family, including Jared Kushner, despite their quite different personalities.
One of the first decisions on the in tray for a Johnson premiership will be a replacement for Kim Darroch, who is due to depart at the end of the year anyway.
Politics: It’s not just in America.
UPDATE 7/8/2019 — Maturity is for Losers: Trump: We Will No Longer Deal With The British Ambassador Who Criticized Me In Private Diplomatic Cables.
— DRJ
Teresa May would be the likely culprit.
Kevin M (61459c) — 7/7/2019 @ 8:45 amIt seems like *someone’s* career will end in disgrace anyway.
Kevin M (61459c) — 7/7/2019 @ 8:46 amWho benefits from this — May or Farage? My guess is Farage.
DRJ (15874d) — 7/7/2019 @ 8:52 amSo the British ambassador thought that the idea that DJT was inept, insecure, and incompetent was top secret, even though everyone else in the world know that?
Suggests a bit of ineptness and incompetence in the British ambassador.
Some might tell him the Whitehall machine is a nest of snobbish anti-populist opponents of Brexit.
I’m not sure if that’s true about Brexit in particular (I suspect it is), but the British Foreign Service has always had a reputation of being snobbish and often more comfortable with the enemies of Britain than with fellow Britons who were not “one of them”.
One of the first decisions on the in tray for a Johnson premiership will be a replacement for Kim Darroch, who is due to depart at the end of the year anyway.
Farage is the obvious choice.
kishnevi (0c10d1) — 7/7/2019 @ 9:01 amI think the documents span several years and the opinions about Trump’s attitudes, behavior and character were from early in his term.
DRJ (15874d) — 7/7/2019 @ 9:31 am@ kish: The fact that the British ambassador confirmed, in confidential messages to the British cabinet, that based on his (the ambassador’s) network of sources, including within the White House, the media and Trump’s opponents were correct was indeed top secret. I encourage folks to read the whole thing — that is, both of the British sources linked by DRJ, with due appreciation for the facts that (1) those sources are themselves political players, not unbiased reporters, but (2) the news accounts consist mainly of direct quotes that have not been disavowed either by Darroch or No. 10 Downing. I think they show the opposite of ineptness and incompetence on the part of the British ambassador, who was doing exactly what his job requires with the discretion it also requires.
Beldar (fa637a) — 7/7/2019 @ 9:36 am@ DRJ (#5): The reports do begin with the earliest days of Trump’s presidency, but they extend all the way through Trump’s just-concluded visit to Buckingham Palace in early June 2019, just before the D-Day celebrations in Normandy. In other words, they’re comprehensive.
Beldar (fa637a) — 7/7/2019 @ 9:39 amI agree but my impression is that the opinions about Trump’s ineptness and insecurity were formed early on.
DRJ (15874d) — 7/7/2019 @ 9:45 amHope he doesn’t do something really insulting like return the Churchill bust.
Don’t think he will as that would play into the Euro-phile’s hands.
NJRob (4d595c) — 7/7/2019 @ 9:49 amMore and more, I worry about leaks and narrative. They all seem to serve particular political agendas.
I’ll be over here, wrapping my head in tinfoil and watching for chemtrails.
Simon Jester (374700) — 7/7/2019 @ 9:53 amEntrenched government functionary disapproves of outsider! News At Eleven!
To say nothing of ‘Entrenched government functionary from government directly opposed to outsider’s election and who conspired in intelligence activities to keep him from being elected, disapproves of outsider!’
Ingot9455 (084d5f) — 7/7/2019 @ 9:55 amHuman person recognizes the sky is blue, says it.
Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c) — 7/7/2019 @ 10:05 amAnyone who needs to be told that Trump is inept, insecure, incompetent and uniquely dysfunctional hasn’t been paying much attention.
Dave (1bb933) — 7/7/2019 @ 10:07 amTrump lulls them with a false sense of security….then off he goes with the Crown Jewels.
Well, who is surprised by this? Trumpism is almost by definition “by the seat of your pants”….and hope and pray nothing breaks. The U.S. has always been counted on during an international crisis, I fear there’s now a disturbing void and palpable mistrust. Losing Kelly, Mattis, and Hailey doesn’t inspire confidence. Is it time for adults yet?
AJ_Liberty (165d19) — 7/7/2019 @ 10:22 amLong past time.
Dave (1bb933) — 7/7/2019 @ 10:24 amMember of a service famous for Upper Class Twittery derides American President as a provincial nobody risen above his station. In other news, water is wet.
C. S. P. Schofield (f7316d) — 7/7/2019 @ 10:35 am“Is it time for adults yet?”
AJ_Liberty (165d19) — 7/7/2019 @ 10:22 am
You mean those adults who use their appointed position to undermine an incoming administration through selective leaks? Time for those adults who pout and stammer that the election didn’t go their way? Remainers and NeverTrump are two peas in a pod, thumbs firmly stuck in mouth.
Munroe (d79d9a) — 7/7/2019 @ 10:37 amYes but even Upper Class Twits can be right sometimes. Same of entrenched government functionaries.
kishnevi (0c10d1) — 7/7/2019 @ 10:39 amOnce again, Munroe, you’ve pulled “facts” out of your butt. If you have any support, other than your own wild imagination, for thinking that you know who leaked these documents, cite it. Otherwise, confess that you don’t know whether it was Darroch himself, someone on his staff, someone in the Foreign Office or PM’s office back in London, or some civil service file clerk or, for that matter, janitor.
I’m not saying you’re wrong. I’m saying you don’t know — and apparently don’t care — whether you’re right or not on what you assert as “fact,” once again. And it’s a pattern that makes everything you write, in my opinion, extremely unreliable.
Beldar (fa637a) — 7/7/2019 @ 10:42 amBeldar, best case scenario to support your cork gun broadside is that the janitor did it — in which case it counters zilch regarding my comment.
Munroe (777d99) — 7/7/2019 @ 10:46 amI’m guessing a Brexiteer leaked this.
Paul Montagu (fc91e5) — 7/7/2019 @ 10:47 amAhhh, that ol’familiar stink of British domestic politics; do flush the loo:
‘[Darroch’s] bombshell comments risk angering the notoriously thin-skinned President and undermining the UK’s ‘special relationship’ with America.- Daily Mail.
‘Some might tell him the Whitehall machine is a nest of snobbish, anti-populist opponents of Brexit.’ – The Guardian.
Soon, a PM named Boris, too!?!
… and Putin smiled.
“You may very well think that. I could not possibly comment.” – Francis Urquhart [Ian Richardson] ‘House of Cards’ BBC TV, 1990
DCSCA (797bc0) — 7/7/2019 @ 10:55 am17… this is one fellow’s opinion, it may be shared by others, as well. Or not.
But why does this give license to demean – and it’s an habitual pattern of this commenter – as was done in comment #19?
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 7/7/2019 @ 10:58 amUS WOMEN WIN THE WORLD CUP!!!
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 7/7/2019 @ 11:02 am10-1 Sir Kimmy has a dossier two feet thick explaining why he is the most important subject in the Kingdom.
mg (8cbc69) — 7/7/2019 @ 11:02 amit’s like the downing street memo, whose author made it up the skinny pole to ambassador to the un, and related a very partialized account of dearlove’s communication, dearlove as head of the Cambridge seminar, allowed halpers defamation of Svetlana lokhova, stand,
narciso (d1f714) — 7/7/2019 @ 11:10 am@25. Meh. Ain’t that the truth: if you don’t cable home, you don’t exist.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 7/7/2019 @ 11:11 amColonel Haiku (2601c0) — 7/7/2019 @ 10:58 am
Colonel, Beldar has a direct way of stating things, as you know. I like people who engage that way, including presidents. I didn’t take it as demeaning.
Munroe (a89442) — 7/7/2019 @ 11:13 amlike Jonah getting swallowed in the whale,
https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2019/07/05/crowdstrikeout_muellers_own_report_undercuts_its_core_russia-meddling_claims.html
narciso (d1f714) — 7/7/2019 @ 11:14 amThe Ambassador is a globalist, well known Europhile, and opposed Brexit. He loved Obama. I’d love to hear his comments on Thatcher or the UKIP party. Imagine a British John Kerry as Ambassador to the USA and you get where he is coming from.
Why leak now? Obviously, it can only come from “Sir Kim” or someone in the PM’s office or High in the Foreign Secretary. Isn’t the current F/S running against Boris? Maybe this is an attempt to embarrass Him! But I’ve loved the bit about Trump not liking “ambiguity” and wanting straight-forward talk. How undiplomatic! How Crude! What a Peasant!
rcocean (1a839e) — 7/7/2019 @ 11:25 am‘inept’
‘insecure’
‘incompetent’
‘uniquely dysfunctional’
‘disgrace’.
‘notoriously thin-skinned’
So that’s like a big secret or something? It’s Trump to a “T”.
nk (dbc370) — 7/7/2019 @ 11:27 amHere’s an alternate title:
“Upper-class British Twit globalist agrees with Leftists/Never-Trumpers that Trump is too Pro-American”.
rcocean (1a839e) — 7/7/2019 @ 11:27 amit was before his installation, but that Hezbollah network in 2015, uncovered right around the time the uk signed the iran deal,
narciso (d1f714) — 7/7/2019 @ 11:29 amIf you guys don’t think that Putin, Xi, Kim, and a hundred or so more foreign leaders, not to motion hundreds of heads of national and multi-national businesses, have psychological profiles of Trump saying the same things ….
nk (dbc370) — 7/7/2019 @ 11:39 amnow Christopher Meyer’s Blair’s envoy said much the same silly things about w
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/07/how_many_divisions_does_chief_justice_roberts_have.html
narciso (d1f714) — 7/7/2019 @ 11:45 amlike the company, that relied on raul’s future wife, vilma espin, to vouch for the castro brothers,
narciso (d1f714) — 7/7/2019 @ 11:50 am33… sure, profiles of leaders is a long-running tradition. One good thing is that Trump wasn’t inept enough to continue that farce of an Iran deal, which can’t be said of these once-a-week bathing Euros…
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 7/7/2019 @ 12:05 pmIt happens so often it’s barely noticed
Narciso (fddec8) — 7/7/2019 @ 12:16 pmhttps://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1150120/london-stabbing-enfield-knife-crime-met-police?fbclid=IwAR0U7awaAsf30x4i5-KThh5yNlJpuFSeL-Yxuk56–BCErSQRWwX_o6BUkk
Out of your butt, Monroe. Admit it like a man.
Beldar (fa637a) — 7/7/2019 @ 12:34 pmWe can speculate about who leaked it and why it was leaked. However, I seriously doubt, bigly seriously doubt, that the British Ambassador to the United States would transmit information to his government that he had not taken every step to insure was correct. I likewise doubt that the British Prime Minister, whoever he or she may, will discount the Ambassador’s assessment like they were Trump’s superfans or something.
nk (dbc370) — 7/7/2019 @ 12:49 pm“Out of your butt, Monroe. Admit it like a man.”
Beldar (fa637a) — 7/7/2019 @ 12:34 pm
I do suggest Monroe do that, whoever Monroe is.
I also suggest that a Brexiteer janitor did this, as that’s probably the highest ranking Brexiteer in the diplomatic corps. So, I’m coming around on this with you, Balder.
Munroe (d54753) — 7/7/2019 @ 1:02 pmWell consider a more egregious hack, that of Tomlinson, for reasons unclear he compromised the names and cvs of 250 of his colleagues past and present, including Christopher steele.
Narciso (23765c) — 7/7/2019 @ 1:33 pmI apologize for misspelling your name, Munroe (#40).
You have dodged the question — which is also part of your pattern. You need a rimshot sound effect to go with those week jokes, a cymbal crash to assist your misdirection efforts.
More to the point, you’ve ignored my request that you link or otherwise cite evidence to support your factual assertion. When challenged to support your factual assertions about who the leaker(s) were and what his/her/their motivations were, you could point to no such support. That’s a sufficient answer, to any but the willfully obtuse.
Out. Of. Your. Butt.
Beldar (fa637a) — 7/7/2019 @ 1:53 pm*weak jokes
Beldar (fa637a) — 7/7/2019 @ 1:54 pmMost of the UK parliament wants to under deutschlands first, not a few ministers have pledged to topple boris, in a way I dont they’d do with corbyn
Narciso (23765c) — 7/7/2019 @ 2:09 pmCorbyn being the Kremlin’s and the stbs catspaw, going back 30 yearsm
Narciso (23765c) — 7/7/2019 @ 2:10 pm@23. Haiku, suggest a musical interlude for the proper perspective;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLLYa5LdUeE
____________
Yeah, Colonel, howzabout them soccer gals kickin’ balls and takin’ names?! Great job! Until they collect their paychecks…
“They always pay us plenty for teamwork; we split it 80/20… that’s teamwork?” – Hope & Crosby, ‘Road To Hong Kong’ 1962
DCSCA (797bc0) — 7/7/2019 @ 2:12 pm“One good thing is that Trump wasn’t inept enough to continue that farce of an Iran deal”
The Trump administration is doing everything in its power to dismantle the deal without doing the hard work of developing a viable Plan B. So we get an elevating crisis. Iran has not come back to the negotiation table, the regime is not about to fall, and there is new enrichment. How exactly is this a good situation….unless you are eager for another military showdown….
AJ_Liberty (165d19) — 7/7/2019 @ 2:17 pmBrexiters dont get into the service, as a general rule, merely expressing patriotic sentiments are signs of extremism, Tomlinson despite his military ties proved unreluablem.
Narciso (23765c) — 7/7/2019 @ 2:22 pmYeah, he backed out of a objectively mediocre deal that only restricted nuclear enrichment processing but didn’t address missile technology, into unrestricted nuclear enrichment and no restriction on missile technology. Progress.
Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c) — 7/7/2019 @ 2:26 pmFrom the land of Hamlet: to Brexit, or not to Brexit; that is the question.
No surprise.
Britons have been at odds with whether to be or not to be a part of “Europe” for centuries.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 7/7/2019 @ 2:26 pmIt gives his cultists the sugar-buzz they crave.
Dave (55e817) — 7/7/2019 @ 2:34 pmAs if that deal had any slowing effect.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 7/7/2019 @ 2:43 pmit was a bribe, which mostly enriched the sepah, and the ayatollah,
narciso (d1f714) — 7/7/2019 @ 2:48 pmIt took 2/3 of their centrifuges out of production and nearly eliminated their stockpiles of high- and medium-enriched uranium.
Dave (55e817) — 7/7/2019 @ 2:53 pmhe’s rolling coronello, any more after shocks,
narciso (d1f714) — 7/7/2019 @ 3:09 pmDem talking points for the loss. There were locations that were closed off to inspection, as you had been reproached several weeks ago when you touted the genius of the “Iran Deal” at that time.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 7/7/2019 @ 3:20 pmNo doubt Sir Kim was telling Trump – to his face – that he was “absolutely fabulous”, while saying the opposite in his private dispatches. I hope Trump isn’t surprised.
rcocean (1a839e) — 7/7/2019 @ 3:31 pmAll the Upper-Class Brits agree – There’s the smartest people in the world. You wonder how they went from the World’s Greatest Empire to where they are now. Given how “smart” they are.
rcocean (1a839e) — 7/7/2019 @ 3:33 pmwell they gave up on india, fairly quickly, and they did it in the worst way with partition, with Kenya they surrendered to the mau mau’s who were predominantly kikuyu, in Nigeria they didn’t even really contest, a little more in aden, their century old coaling station (that’s where Christopher steele was born, btw)
narciso (d1f714) — 7/7/2019 @ 3:49 pmNo doubt Sir Kim was telling Trump – to his face – that he was “absolutely fabulous”, while saying the opposite in his private dispatches. I hope Trump isn’t surprised.
No doubt. It’s an ambassador’s job to be honest with his own government and “diplomatic” with the one he’s sent to.
But it’s ten to one in favor that Trump is surprised. He thinks he’s absolutely fabulous. He’s surrounded by people who tell him that, having weeded out the ones who don’t.
nk (dbc370) — 7/7/2019 @ 4:57 pmIn November 2016, there was another memo, leaked from ambassador darrochs,
Narciso (23765c) — 7/7/2019 @ 5:46 pmHow many ministers have had to step down from May’s cabinet again.
Narciso (23765c) — 7/7/2019 @ 5:50 pmMind you this guy previously was the national security advisor.
Narciso (23765c) — 7/7/2019 @ 6:29 pmI’d like to know what Kislyak tells Putin.
Anyway, guys, it doesn’t matter whether Darroch is right or whether you believe him, but it does matter whether the British government believes him because that will affect our mutual relations. In a serious way.
nk (dbc370) — 7/7/2019 @ 6:40 pmHow could it not, add Steele and downer into this picture, orbis and haklyut
Narciso (23765c) — 7/7/2019 @ 6:48 pmThey should have replaced him after the first leak.
Narciso (23765c) — 7/7/2019 @ 6:51 pmIt isn’t just the Empire. The UK was the 2nd biggest economic powerhouse in the World in 1910. Now, their GDP is below Italy.
rcocean (1a839e) — 7/8/2019 @ 9:24 amTrump just tweeted that he will no longer deal with the British ambassador who described him as “insecure” in diplomatic cables…
Allahpundit riffs thusly:
Dave (1bb933) — 7/8/2019 @ 1:31 pmI updated the post.
DRJ (15874d) — 7/8/2019 @ 1:35 pmJust saw that, too, Dave. Thanks for staying on top of these things!
DRJ (15874d) — 7/8/2019 @ 1:36 pmWhy deal with an empty suit when you can steer Queen Elizabeth; our Captain had lunch and dinner in her quarters, too!
DCSCA (797bc0) — 7/8/2019 @ 2:14 pmI think he was receiving reports from Steele as national security advisor, and probably handing them to other officials at whitehall.
Narciso (23765c) — 7/8/2019 @ 2:20 pmnarcisoo @72.
At least one the things quoted – that he thought Trump owed Russia money – sounds like something that could have come from Steele.
Now this leak of the diplomatic cables is similr to what happened eith Eikileaks – and the United State made the same defense Britian did – they are giving their own opinins. The surprising things is that the UK diplomats are doing the same thing US diplomats do – you would have thought this craziness was only here – and the second surprsing thing is that this Amnassador bought into so much.
Sammy Finkelman (6e331b) — 7/9/2019 @ 7:03 amOf course this would mean that one of the purposes of Russia feeding Steele disinformation was at leaast partically accomplished. I thinkk Theresa May rshed over to Doald Trump after theelection to assure him that they didn’t believe a lot of this stuff.
Sammy Finkelman (6e331b) — 7/9/2019 @ 7:05 am