{UAH} Ambassadors: We all share similar views on Donald Trump to Sir Kim Darroch
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Foreign ambassadors working in Washington have revealed they share similar views to British envoy Sir Kim Darroch, who described Donald Trump's administration as "inept" and "dysfunctional" in leaked diplomatic cables.
"It could have been any of us," one unnamed ambassador told the New York Times.
Asked if other members of the Washington diplomatic corps characterised the Trump White House as chaotic, former French Ambassador to the US Gérard Araud, who retired earlier this year, said: "Yes, yes, everyone does.
"But fortunately I knew nothing would remain secret, so I sent [my own briefing notes] in a most confidential manner."
In Britain, investigators are hunting the person who leaked the memos by Sir Kim, who resigned yesterday, with fears that more documents could be disclosed in coming days.
Boris Johnson has faced accusations that he failed to give the ambassador proper backing in a Tory leadership TV debate, with friends of Sir Kim reportedly calling this a factor in his resignation.
The former Foreign Secretary, who phoned Sir Kim yesterday after he stood down, has provoked anger among MPs and civil servants in the Foreign Office. But Ross Thomson, Mr Johnson's campaign chairman in Scotland, said: "I don't think you defend diplomats when it's against the national interest."
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Many foreign diplomats in Washington — other than pro-Trump ambassadors from Israel and the United Arab Emirates — describe living in a "black hole," according to the New York Times. Trade decisions affecting their governments are reportedly delivered without any notice and they are kept in the dark about key policy changes.
Those in the State and Treasury departments and US Congress meant to offer guidance are clueless about what Mr Trump is planning to say next, and social events are being snubbed. Few administration aides would attend Sir Kim's ballroom receptions and cocktail parties in the British Embassy, says the report.
Occasional guests might include the president's daughter Ivanka, and her husband Jared Kushner, and White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway, who attended Sir Kim's New Year parties. But Vice President Mike Pence, who lives next door, and secretaries of state Rex Tillerson and Mike Pompeo, did not make an appearance.
The report said Sir Kim was given no notice in December when Mr Trump tweeted that the US was pulling out of Syria, nor much warning about last year's decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, even though Britain played a central role in the negotiations.
Mr Araud said that in 2017 he gave the US State Department two months' notice that France's foreign minister was planning a trip to Washington, but was only told the day before the event that he had been allotted a 20-minute time slot for a meeting with Rex Tillerson.
"As a foreigner, it was fascinating," Mr Araud said. "It's what happens when a populist leader takes command in a liberal democracy. These people don't recognise the idea that an ambassador or a bureaucrat could be of any use. They only want to deal with other leaders."
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