The Huffington Post
Donald Trump and Peter Mandelson in the Oval Office on May 8 last year. Donald Trump has taken a fresh swipe at Keir Starmer as he weighed in on the latest Peter Mandelson scandal. The US president said the prime minister had “acknowledged he exercised wrong judgment” in choosing the shamed former peer as the UK’s ambassador to Washington. Posting on Truth Social in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Trump added: “I agree, he was a really bad pick. Plenty of time to recover, however.” It is one of the few comments Trump has made on Mandelson since he was sacked as ambassador by Starmer last September over his links to the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The pair initially appeared to get on well, with the president praising Mandelson’s “beautiful accent” in the Oval Office. But following his sacking, Trump claimed he did not know Mandelson . Starmer has been left fighting for his political life after it emerged last week that Mandelson was initially refused security clearance after he was announced as US ambassador. In a statement to MPs on Monday, the prime minister said it was “staggering” that he was never told about it by Foreign Office civil servants. Olly Robbins, the senior Foreign Office civil servant sacked by Starmer for clearing Mandelson to take up the post, will give his side of the story when he gives evidence to the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday. Subscribe to Commons People , the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster. Related... Labour MPs 'Vote With Their Feet' As Support For Starmer Drains Away Amid Mandelson Fallout 5 Excruciating Moments As MPs Grill Starmer Over Peter Mandelson 'It Is Frankly Preposterous': Nick Robinson Monsters Minister Over Mandelson Scandal
Go to News Site