Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP; Niall Carson/PA Images via Getty
A composite image of US President Donald Trump at Morristown Municipal Airport, New Jersey, in July 2019; and Kim Darroch, the UK's ambassador to the US, at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, in May 2019.
- Foreign ambassadors have told the New York Times that the diplomatic community in Washington DC concurs with the withering assessment of the Trump administration provided by former UK ambassador Sir Kim Darroch in leaked diplomatic cables.
- "It could have been any of us," one serving ambassador told the Times, after Sir Kim's resignation Wednesday.
- In the leaked cables Darroch described the Trump administration as "clumsy and inept."
- A former US diplomat said that Trump's public attacks on Sir Kim could place US diplomats abroad in danger.
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Current and former ambassadors have told the New York Times that former British ambassador Sir Kim Darroch's withering assessment of the Trump administration is a view shared by many diplomats in Washington.
One serving ambassador who spoke to the Times on condition of anonymity said of the leaked memo which ultimately led to Darroch's resignation: "It could have been any of us."
Darroch on Wednesday resigned after coming under public attack from Trump, who ridiculed him as "wacky" and "a very stupid guy" in a tweet, and said the White House would refuse to have any dealings with him.
In leaked cables published by the Mail on Sunday, Sir Kim had provided a negative assessment of the Trump administration which he described as "clumsy and inept," and said the president "radiates insecurity."
One former ambassador confirmed that other foreign ambassadors have the same view of Trump's presidency as Darroch.
Brian Stukes/Getty Images
Sir Kim Darroch
"Yes, yes, everyone does," Gérard Araud, former French ambassador to the US who left his post in April, told the publication. "But fortunately I knew that nothing would remain secret, so I sent them in a most confidential manner."
He went on to describe the unique difficulties foreign officials have encountered in dealing with Trump.
"It's what happens when a populist leader takes command in a liberal democracy. These people don't recognize or accept the idea that an ambassador or a bureaucrat could be of any use. They only want to deal with other leaders."
Read more: Boris Johnson called a 'Donald Trump patsy' after throwing the UK's ambassador to US 'under a bus'
Sir Kim's resignation Wednesday and Trump's public ridiculing of him has sent shockwaves through the diplomatic community in Washington DC.
In his resignation letter, Sir Kim said that the leaked cables made his position untenable.
"The current situation is making it impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like," he wrote.
Brett Bruen, a former US diplomat and Director of Global Engagement under the Obama administration, said that Trump's actions could even place US diplomats in danger.
"I worked in countries where the leaders didn't like what we said about human rights & democracy," Bruen tweeted Wednesday.
"Trump has now given them the precedence for publicly insulting and punishing ambassadors for what they say about how they govern, even privately."