Donald Trump will not block the appointment of Peter Mandelson as British ambassador to the US, according to a London-based ally of the president-elect, as ministers brace for a turbulent four years of British-American relations.
Greg Swenson, the head of the UK branch of Republicans Overseas, told the BBC on Sunday he did not believe Trump would prevent the Labour peer from taking up his post in Washington, despite reports to the contrary.
Trump allies told British newspapers over the weekend that the incoming president was prepared to veto Lord Mandelson’s appointment in part because of his links to China. Swenson denied this was the case but ministers say the controversy is a sign of what are likely to be bumpy years with Trump in the White House.
“I didn’t think [Mandelson] was the right pick, but he is the pick,” Swenson told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg. “I think the administration, when we work with them, there is a political difference, obviously, with Labour and the government in the UK and the Republicans coming back in the US.”
But he added: “There’s a moment, I think, where there has to be some reaching out and kiss and make up, so to speak.”
Trump will enter the White House on Monday, with British officials hoping to secure an early meeting between him and Keir Starmer.
However, Republicans warn that the British prime minister is likely to be kept waiting for a bilateral meeting, amid tensions between the two countries on several issues, including Mandelson’s appointment and a prospective deal to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands.
Speaking from a pre-inauguration event in Washington, Nigel Farage told GB News this weekend: “Many people here have said, ‘Mandelson, are you serious?’ And that was said by an incoming cabinet member of the Trump regime.
“The other thing that’s been discussed by everybody is, what the hell were you thinking about with the Chagos Islands? The honest truth is that our government is getting off to the worst possible start with the incoming Trump administration.”
One Trump ally told the Mail on Sunday the incoming president was also still angry that Labour officials helped facilitate volunteers to campaign for his opponent, Kamala Harris, during the election campaign.
Starmer appointed Mandelson in the hope that his political experience and connections would enable him to secure a level of access unreachable to a career diplomat. Newspapers reported on Sunday however that Trump is concerned about Mandelson’s links to China, given his advisory firm Global Counsel has previously represented Chinese clients.
Darren Jones, the Treasury chief secretary, told the BBC on Sunday: “This is the first time in maybe 50 years that a British prime minister has picked a politician to be the ambassador in DC.
“We have brilliant diplomats, and Karen Pierce [the outgoing ambassador] has done a brilliant job. But the reason the prime minister picked Peter Mandelson was because we want to do things differently, we recognise the important relationship between our two countries.”
He added: “What we say in the world matters. Our economy, our security, our defence, our values are strongly intertwined with the Americans, irrespective of who their president is.”
But he distanced himself from the views of Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, who this weekend named Trump as part of a group of “reactionary populists” around the world including the far-right German party Alternative für Deutschland and the far-right French party the National Rally.
Khan warned in a piece for the Observer: “The spectre of a resurgent fascism haunts the west.”
Jones said on Sunday: “I don’t agree with that. President-elect Trump won an enormous election victory in the United States as a democracy … I speak on behalf of the government, and we don’t agree with [Khan].”
Trump will be inaugurated in Washington DC on Monday at a ceremony attended by Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, and Farage, but not Starmer. Downing Street says a UK prime minister would not normally attend an inauguration – though Giorgia Meloni, the far-right Italian prime minister, has been invited.
Source: theguardian.com
