Patterico's Pontifications

7/10/2019

UK Diplomat Resigns

Filed under: International,Politics — DRJ @ 6:16 am



[Headlines from DRJ]

The GuardianKim Darroch quits as UK ambassador to US ‘after Johnson remarks:

Sir Kim Darroch, the UK ambassador to Washington who has been at the centre of a diplomatic row over leaked cables criticising Donald Trump, has resigned.

The Guardian understands he concluded that his position was untenable after watching Tuesday’s Conservative leadership debate, in which the frontrunner, Boris Johnson, stopped short of backing him.

In a letter to Simon McDonald, the most senior official at the Foreign Office, Darroch said the row, in which Trump called the ambassador “a pompous fool” and “very stupid”, meant he could not continue.

Johnson, the apparent next PM, is getting pressure for not supporting the Ambassador:

Darroch’s decision will put pressure on Johnson, who was criticised by some Conservatives after Tuesday night’s debate for refusing to give Darroch his support, even as his rival, Jeremy Hunt, said he would expect the ambassador to stay in post until his planned retirement.

When pressed on the point, Johnson gave only mild criticism of Trump and said a good relationship with the US was “of fantastic importance”.

Sir Alan Duncan, a Foreign Office minister, said Johnson had thrown Darroch “under the bus to serve his own personal interests ” and accused him of “contemptible negligence”.

Meanwhile, at the Daily Mail:

The Purell president: Germaphobe Trump tells visitors to wash their hands in bathroom near Oval Office and an aide follows him with bottle of hand sanitizer – but staff escape from him by faking a cough.

Diplomacy isn’t just for Ambassadors. Trump’s staff uses it, too.

— DRJ

22 Responses to “UK Diplomat Resigns”

  1. Probably for the best. It’s not in the interest of the UK to a diplomat the president hates.

    Time123 (b4d075)

  2. His ability to function as a diplomat is over, and it had previously been reported that he was retiring soon anyway. It is unfortunate for the Ambassador but it is really unfortunate for our countries.

    DRJ (15874d)

  3. Yes, he is a spy whose cover was blown.

    I imagine, though, that there are other factors at play besides Trump’s sippy-cup throwing. For example, our State Department “expressing concern” over the British Foreign Service leaks and “reassessing our sharing of secret information”. Not that Trump would be compos mentis enough to play that card but Pompeo probably is.

    nk (dbc370)

  4. British Foreign *Office*

    nk (dbc370)

  5. The Purell president: Germaphobe Trump tells visitors to wash their hands in bathroom near Oval Office and an aide follows him with bottle of hand sanitizer – but staff escape from him by faking a cough.

    Did he make Stormy shower first?

    nk (dbc370)

  6. I don’t think Trump can complain about leaking since the UK limited its sharing of terrorism intelligence two years ago because of Trump Administration leaks. This was about Trump’s hurt feelings because the Ambassador clearly knows Trump’s flaws.

    DRJ (15874d)

  7. 5. That’s probably one of the reasons for the Nondisclosure Agreement.

    DRJ (15874d)

  8. Well he was the intelligence advisor who vouched for the Steele dossier, he’ll just get a consulting gig at haklyut like Alex downer.

    Now Craig Murray did put his career on the line in Tashkent and that drove him crazy.

    Narciso (31d00b)

  9. A eurocrat Iran deal partisan, you can see why the only obvious answer is the Russians were at fault.

    Narciso (31d00b)

  10. In other British news “Peaky Blinders” season 5 will be out in the fall and will have a season 6 and conclude with season 7.

    mg (8cbc69)

  11. Not foe me as long as “The Andy Griffith Show” is on Netflix and “The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show” on YouTube, mg.

    nk (dbc370)

  12. I lost interest after the killed off the one who ended up in the mummy (bad career move)

    Narciso (31d00b)

  13. #6 —

    DRJ, you know Trump has no shame, no filter, and is, first and foremost, the whiner in chief. So, he can complain, he will complain, and the cycle of garbage will continue until he leaves office.

    Appalled (d07ae6)

  14. I got a sudden yen to watch the original “Front Page” and understood why less than five minutes in. Roy B. Bensinger, the germophobe, played by Edward Everett Horton, who also narrated “Fractured Fairy Tales” on Rocky and Bullwinkle. 😉

    nk (dbc370)

  15. Its like they are remaking midway witb woody Harrelson and Dennis quaid

    Narciso (31d00b)

  16. 12, kind of scrawny, but if they ever redid the Miami Scarface, she would take over the Michelle Pfeiffer role.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  17. They kind of did with leguizamo and denise Richards with the younger skarsgard playing the sleeziest of the three.

    Narciso (31d00b)

  18. Catching up on old dr. Who episodes, before they brought it back all shiny, also crime story.

    Narciso (31d00b)

  19. Deliciously British; the question remains who passed him the thin edge of the wedge him back home. Hard cheese, old boy.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  20. 6: yeah we never had leaks under any other Admin. Although leftists like to leak more than anyone (e.g., the SWIFT leak). Hardly Trump’s fault that career “diplomats” on both sides of the pond like to leak when a republican is in office.

    Harcourt Fenton Mudd (6b1442)

  21. Steele was interviewed by the IG in June. I wonder if the testimony turned up something. IRC, the Brits originally tried to warn us off Steele by claiming he was MI6. Maybe trump knows the Brit Ambassador was involved in the whole Fake Dossier.

    rcocean (1a839e)

  22. Steele was interviewed by the IG in June. I wonder if the testimony turned up something. IRC, the Brits originally tried to warn us off Steele by claiming he was MI6. Maybe trump knows the Brit Ambassador was involved in the whole Fake Dossier.

    rcocean (1a839e)


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