Donald Trump has laid into Sir Keir Starmer over his appointment of Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the US in his latest swipe at the PM.
In a late-night social media post, Mr Trump said: “Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom acknowledged that he ‘exercised wrong judgement’ when he chose his ambassador to Washington.
“I agree, he was a really bad pick.”
“Plenty of time to recover, however,” the President prodded.
The Labour grandee had been sent to DC to help charm the President just before his return to the White House last January.
At the signing of the US-UK trade deal, Lord Mandelson was complimented by Mr Trump for his “beautiful accent” and was given the floor to make remarks to reporters.
He was later reported to have left that meeting with a handwritten note from the President reading: “Peter, Great Job!”
Even with his links to Jeffrey Epstein aside, some in Maga circles had raised eyebrows over Lord Mandelson’s appointment.
Steve Bannon had told GB News he was a “terrible choice” because of his prior remarks about the President.
He said he was left “stunned” by the pick, adding there were “20 other people” he would have chosen ahead of Lord Mandelson.
The then-Labour peer had previously referred to Trump as a “bully”, “reckless”, and a “danger to the world” in comments he later walked back on to Fox News.
Back in the UK, the Prime Minister yesterday insisted No10 had not forced through Lord Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador.
He claimed to MPs he would not have appointed him if he had known the peer had failed his checks and “full due process” was followed throughout.
The House of Commons will subject Sir Keir’s efforts to lay out the facts of the scandal to further scrutiny on Tuesday, as MPs hold an emergency debate on Lord Mandelson’s appointment.
The debate is expected to start at around 12.30pm on Tuesday, shortly after ex-Foreign Office mandarin Sir Olly Robbins provides evidence to MPs.
That comes ahead of the looming release of a new tranche of so-called “Mandelson files”.
Politico revealed yesterday that ministers and officials’ harshest comments about Mr Trump will not be made public in the next document dump to avoid further tearing up the “special relationship” after a series of blows over Iran, Greenland, oil and the Chagos Islands.
Already this year, Mr Trump has publicly lambasted Sir Keir for his refusal to allow offensive US strikes on Iran from UK or joint bases.
He has also branded the Chagos “surrender” deal an “act of great stupidity”, chastened Britain over its stance on a potential American takeover of Greenland, and repeatedly urged Labour to open up the North Sea to oil drilling.
Now, Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee will be casting an eye over the files to ensure nothing emerges which could make things worse.
Ministers are said to be keen to avoid a repeat of the 2019 row which saw the then-British ambassador to Washington, Lord Darroch, described the first Trump administration as “inept” and “clumsy” in a leaked diplomatic cables.
His replacement, Dame Karen Pierce, was well-liked by the White House, with the President viewing her as a “respected” and “effective” diplomat, according to reports.
The current British ambassador, Sir Christian Turner, attempted to cool tensions just days ago.
Speaking at an event in Washington during Rachel Reeves’s trip to the States, Sir Christian said now was an “extraordinary moment” for UK-US relations, but joked disagreements were “relative” compared to the American War of Independence.
“250 years ago we had a small disagreement. We were in the midst of a dispute back then,” he said.
“To our credit, we’ve only tried to burn down the White House once since, and what began in that moment of tension has been forged into one of the deepest and closest alliances in history.”
In just six days, King Charles and Queen Camilla will also jet across the Atlantic for a State Visit.
Mr Trump labelled the King a “great gentleman” last week, insisting his strained relationship with the Prime Minister would “not at all” overshadow or impact the monarch’s visit.
Charles is set to play what Palace sources have called a unique diplomatic role in supporting a UK-US partnership that has “survived many presidencies and of course many reigns”.
“So yes, we are close allies, we do disagree on things, but that doesn’t detract from the value that both sides get from this relationship and have done over many decades,” a Foreign Office spokeswoman said as details of the visit were announced.