Trump administration 'uniquely dysfunctional', says UK ambassador to U.S.: newspaper

[webfact]

Trump administration 'uniquely dysfunctional', says UK ambassador to U.S.: newspaper

By Kylie MacLellan

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump returns waves after arriving in Morristown, New Jersey, U.S., July 5, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's ambassador to the United States described President Donald Trump's administration as "dysfunctional", "clumsy" and "inept", the Mail on Sunday newspaper reported, citing a series of confidential memos.

 

In memos to the British government which date from 2017 to the present, Kim Darroch said Trump "radiates insecurity" and advises officials in London that to deal with him effectively "you need to make your points simple, even blunt".

 

"We don't really believe this Administration is going to become substantially more normal; less dysfunctional; less unpredictable; less faction riven; less diplomatically clumsy and inept," Darroch wrote in one, according to the newspaper.

 

In others, the newspaper said he had described the administration as "uniquely dysfunctional" and that media reports about White House "knife fights" are "mostly true".

 

Darroch wrote that "we could also be at the beginning of a downward spiral, rather than just a rollercoaster: something could emerge that leads to disgrace and downfall."

 

But he also warned British officials not to write Trump off, saying there was a "credible path" to him winning a second term in office. He said Trump may "emerge from the flames, battered but intact, like (Arnold) Schwarzenegger in the final scenes of The Terminator."

 

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said the public would expect ambassadors "to provide ministers with an honest, unvarnished assessment of the politics in their country".

 

"Their views are not necessarily the views of ministers or indeed the government. But we pay them to be candid," he said.

 

"It's important that our ambassadors can offer their advice and for it to remain confidential. Our team in Washington have strong relations with the White House and no doubt these will withstand such mischievous behaviour."

 

The Foreign Office later said a formal investigation into the leak would take place.

 

In a memo written last month, Darroch described confusion within the administration over Trump's decision to call off a military strike on Iran, and that the president citing the number of predicted casualties as the reason he had changed his mind "didn't stand up".

 

"It's more likely that he was never fully on board and that he was worried about how this apparent reversal of his 2016 campaign promises would look come 2020," Darroch wrote, adding that Trump could still trigger a conflict with Iran.

 

"Just one more Iranian attack somewhere in the region could trigger yet another Trump U-turn. Moreover, the loss of a single American life would probably make a critical difference."

 

During a state visit to Britain last month, Trump was effusive about the "special relationship" between the United States and Britain, promising a "phenomenal" trade deal after Britain leaves the European Union.

 

The Mail on Sunday reported that in a message sent after that visit, Darroch said that the president and his team had been "dazzled" by the visit and Britain might be "flavour of the month" but "this is still the land of America First".

 

(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle, William Maclean)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-07-08

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[neeray]

5 minutes ago, webfact said:

In others, the newspaper said he had described the administration as "uniquely dysfunctional" and that media reports about White House "knife fights" are "mostly true".

 

Darroch wrote that "we could also be at the beginning of a downward spiral, rather than just a rollercoaster: something could emerge that leads to disgrace and downfall."

This profound report could have easily been authored by many TVF members. It sounds so familiar.

Glad to see it published in mainstream media.

[Basil B]

Not exactly news, what the Ambassador wrote we all have known for a long time.

[Tug]

Uh ho I see a tweet stormtemper tantrum coming lol Donald doesent like beeing exposed for what he is 

[Basil B]

Possibly the real story will be who leaked the memos as I assume the intended recipient of the Memos would have been the head of the FO.

Since Trump came to office there have been 2 Foreign Secretaries, guess who?

A. Hunt & Boris.

 

Only last week it was claimed number 10 withheld sensitive information from Boris "because he could not be trusted" 

[Somtamnication]

I hope they are not just now finding out? But, then..............heeeeeeeeereeeeeeeessssssss Boris. I think I will stay Thailand; limited dysfunction but manageable!

[neeray]

I am full of anticipation to see what childish name Trump coins for Ambassador Kim Darroch.

[Basil B]

I suppose the American Ambassador in London will be writing the same things about Number 10 if Boris becomes PM.

[ThreeEyedRaven]

4 minutes ago, neeray said:

I am full of anticipation to see what childish name Trump coins for Ambassador Kim Darroch.

Indeed. he definitely doesn't like being made to look foolish and normally responds with abuse. 

I wonder if any who blindly follow will take note of the seniority of the person making these comments. it's hardy like he is a biased reporter from CNN or the like is it?

[ezzra]

The case of the pot calling the kettle black, as if everything in the UK is hunky dory when it comes to running the country...

[darksidedog]

35 minutes ago, webfact said:

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said the public would expect ambassadors "to provide ministers with an honest, unvarnished assessment of the politics in their country".

Said Ambassadors to such important countries are not normally given to the feeble minded, leaving us with what you have to consider to be the precise truth of the administrations abilities and weaknesses confirmed beyond all doubt. It would be a tough spin to try to suggest that such comments are from anyone politically biased.

[stevenl]

2 minutes ago, ezzra said:

The case of the pot calling the kettle black, as if everything in the UK is hunky dory when it comes to running the country...

Doesn't matter.

 

The ambassador is doing his job, giving confidential information and his opinion.

 

Something like this really should not be leaked.

[evadgib]

The story here is who & why....?

[TopDeadSenter]

46 minutes ago, webfact said:

Darroch said that the president and his team had been "dazzled" by the visit and Britain might be "flavour of the month" but "this is still the land of America First"

The most important part of the article buried in the last sentence. "This is still the land of America First". There you have it. Darroch proving that he is primarily a globalist, and is all whiny and upset that POTUS Trump is serving his own country and citizens instead of running around trying to win Nobel awards by playing mr progressive globalist.

 Darroch needs firing immediately. His behaviour is undiplomatic in the extreme. Let him get a real job in the private sector and let him learn about globalism and the real world. Kudos to Trump for restraining himself. Can't have been easy faced with this sort of deep state muppetry that he so hates.

 

[Morch]

9 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

Said Ambassadors to such important countries are not normally given to the feeble minded, leaving us with what you have to consider to be the precise truth of the administrations abilities and weaknesses confirmed beyond all doubt. It would be a tough spin to try to suggest that such comments are from anyone politically biased.

 

The Trump administration apparently subscribes to an alternative philosophy regarding appointed Ambassadors:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Grenell#Ambassador_to_Germany

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_M._Friedman

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Hoekstra#U.S._Ambassador_to_the_Netherlands

[Thomas J]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/07/05/june-jobs-report-employers-add-224-000-jobs/1577586001/

Please give me more dysfunctional presidents like Trump. Those uniquely functional Presidents like Obama put 1 out of 7 people on food stamps, they only job growth was more government employees, had U-6 unemployment over 16% of U.S. Workforce, ran up a debt greater than the combined total of all 43 presidents who preceded him and for all that STIMULUS spending was the only president in U.S. history to never achieve even a meager 3% annual growth in the USA economy once. 

[Tug]

2 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

The most important part of the article buried in the last sentence. "This is still the land of America First". There you have it. Darroch proving that he is primarily a globalist, and is all whiny and upset that POTUS Trump is serving his own country and citizens instead of running around trying to win Nobel awards by playing mr progressive globalist.

 Darroch needs firing immediately. His behaviour is undiplomatic in the extreme. Let him get a real job in the private sector and let him learn about globalism and the real world. Kudos to Trump for restraining himself. Can't have been easy faced with this sort of deep state muppetry that he so hates.

 

You really are funney 

[Morch]

2 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

The most important part of the article buried in the last sentence. "This is still the land of America First". There you have it. Darroch proving that he is primarily a globalist, and is all whiny and upset that POTUS Trump is serving his own country and citizens instead of running around trying to win Nobel awards by playing mr progressive globalist.

 Darroch needs firing immediately. His behaviour is undiplomatic in the extreme. Let him get a real job in the private sector and let him learn about globalism and the real world. Kudos to Trump for restraining himself. Can't have been easy faced with this sort of deep state muppetry that he so hates.

 

 

How is Darroch's behaviour "undiplomatic"? The things weren't aired in public, but rather leaked. He would be neglecting his duties if was to avoid reporting on how he and the embassy staff see things. That you don't like what he says, or that the things do not paint Trump in a favorable light got nothing to do with it.

 

And, of course, the "deep state" conspiracy nonsense doesn't even relate to that.

[stevenl]

6 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

The most important part of the article buried in the last sentence. "This is still the land of America First". There you have it. Darroch proving that he is primarily a globalist, and is all whiny and upset that POTUS Trump is serving his own country and citizens instead of running around trying to win Nobel awards by playing mr progressive globalist.

 Darroch needs firing immediately. His behaviour is undiplomatic in the extreme. Let him get a real job in the private sector and let him learn about globalism and the real world. Kudos to Trump for restraining himself. Can't have been easy faced with this sort of deep state muppetry that he so hates.

 

So you really have no idea about the tasks of an ambassador.

[TopDeadSenter]

6 minutes ago, Morch said:

How is Darroch's behaviour "undiplomatic"? The things weren't aired in public, but rather leaked.

In my opinion, Darroch is bent out of shape over Trump not chanting the correct progressive mantras. Trump is not here to virtue signal to the likes of Darroch. Trump was elected to get the country back into shape, and he is doing a darned fine job of it. Darroch's comments reek of political bias, end of. It is not diplomatic. 

 A sensible diplomatic summary of Trumps govt would read something like " a determined bunch, not afraid of breaking a few eggs to make an omelette, but Oh My, what a fine omelette it turned out to be. Records smashed regularly on the stock market, record numbers of minorities in employment, growing approval ratings, confidence in the economy growing, respect returning on the international stage. Its just been an amazing ride."

 Negativity has no place when discussing Trumps amazing achievements. But yes, noted. Some liberals like Darroch did not want to see this all happen and they will never stop letting us know.

[ballpoint]

40 minutes ago, neeray said:

I am full of anticipation to see what childish name Trump coins for Ambassador Kim Darroch.

He won't get any further than 'Kim', and will call for a strike on North Korea in retaliation.

[Morch]

8 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

In my opinion, Darroch is bent out of shape over Trump not chanting the correct progressive mantras. Trump is not here to virtue signal to the likes of Darroch. Trump was elected to get the country back into shape, and he is doing a darned fine job of it. Darroch's comments reek of political bias, end of. It is not diplomatic. 

 A sensible diplomatic summary of Trumps govt would read something like " a determined bunch, not afraid of breaking a few eggs to make an omelette, but Oh My, what a fine omelette it turned out to be. Records smashed regularly on the stock market, record numbers of minorities in employment, growing approval ratings, confidence in the economy growing, respect returning on the international stage. Its just been an amazing ride."

 Negativity has no place when discussing Trumps amazing achievements. But yes, noted. Some liberals like Darroch did not want to see this all happen and they will never stop letting us know.

 

In your opinion, anyone not singing Trump's praises is wrong. That's about the sum of it. Hence you'll say pretty much anything against them, regardless of how inane or unreasonable it is.

 

Unless you missed it, Ambassadors to key positions are often political appointments (if you wish to argue that, consult my previous post detailing some of Trump's appointments). And no, a lot of the commentary in the leaked documents goes toward how things are at the White House, or at least the Ambassador and the embassy staff take of them. That you load these with the "globalist", "progressive" and other nonsense labels doesn't change facts.

 

Not everyone shares your adulation of Trump. It's not an offense. It's not grounds for dismissal. It's how it it is. Get used to it.

 

 

[soalbundy]

45 minutes ago, ezzra said:

The case of the pot calling the kettle black, as if everything in the UK is hunky dory when it comes to running the country...

No it certainly isn't but the dysfunctional politics in the UK is not his job, giving his personal and professional opinion of the White house and the big orange is.

[soalbundy]

40 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

The most important part of the article buried in the last sentence. "This is still the land of America First". There you have it. Darroch proving that he is primarily a globalist, and is all whiny and upset that POTUS Trump is serving his own country and citizens instead of running around trying to win Nobel awards by playing mr progressive globalist.

 Darroch needs firing immediately. His behaviour is undiplomatic in the extreme. Let him get a real job in the private sector and let him learn about globalism and the real world. Kudos to Trump for restraining himself. Can't have been easy faced with this sort of deep state muppetry that he so hates.

 

America first is ruining the world economy and America's into the bargain, just because there are more third grade flipping burger jobs doesn't make America secure, in fact many economists are preparing for an American recession in 2020, sorting out the international carnage that he has caused will take decades to put right.

[canuckamuck]

America is dysfunctional but in a way that has stimulated the economy and put lots of people back to work.

Whereas the Britain is functional in the manner of a dumpster fire.

[arithai12]

I believe there is a vacant room at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

[Becker]

It's glaringly obvious the ambassador is right in his assessment and it's been so since the very early days of this train wreck of a presidency.

After all, when you elect a snake oil salesman with the morals of a thug and the maturity of a particularly nasty and insecure child to the highest office the outcome could not have been any different.

The man-child as now even started lashing out at Faux News:

https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/donald-trump-fox-news-worse-than-cnn-031019231.html

 

[expatfromwyoming]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

'uniquely dysfunctional'

Now that is politeness personified

[expatfromwyoming]

2 hours ago, Morch said:

 

In your opinion, anyone not singing Trump's praises is wrong. That's about the sum of it. Hence you'll say pretty much anything against them, regardless of how inane or unreasonable it is.

 

Unless you missed it, Ambassadors to key positions are often political appointments (if you wish to argue that, consult my previous post detailing some of Trump's appointments). And no, a lot of the commentary in the leaked documents goes toward how things are at the White House, or at least the Ambassador and the embassy staff take of them. That you load these with the "globalist", "progressive" and other nonsense labels doesn't change facts.

 

Not everyone shares your adulation of Trump. It's not an offense. It's not grounds for dismissal. It's how it it is. Get used to it.

 

 

Oohrah to that- well said

[expatfromwyoming]

3 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

In my opinion, Darroch is bent out of shape over Trump not chanting the correct progressive mantras. Trump is not here to virtue signal to the likes of Darroch. Trump was elected to get the country back into shape, and he is doing a darned fine job of it. Darroch's comments reek of political bias, end of. It is not diplomatic. 

 A sensible diplomatic summary of Trumps govt would read something like " a determined bunch, not afraid of breaking a few eggs to make an omelette, but Oh My, what a fine omelette it turned out to be. Records smashed regularly on the stock market, record numbers of minorities in employment, growing approval ratings, confidence in the economy growing, respect returning on the international stage. Its just been an amazing ride."

 Negativity has no place when discussing Trumps amazing achievements. But yes, noted. Some liberals like Darroch did not want to see this all happen and they will never stop letting us know.

These are the FACTS that matter