Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment as Britain’s ambassador to Washington was slammed on Friday by one in every of Donald Trump’s high marketing campaign strategists, who instructed the veteran UK politician to “stay home”.
Chris LaCivita, a Republican political strategist who co-managed Trump’s profitable presidential marketing campaign this yr, cited Mandelson’s previous criticism of Trump as a “danger to the world” and “little short of a white nationalist”.
“This UK govt is special,” he wrote on X. “Replace a professional universally respected Ambo with an absolute moron – he should stay home ! SAD!”
The put up got here simply minutes after UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed he had chosen Mandelson to interchange Dame Karen Pierce, referred to as “the Trump whisperer” for her work constructing ties to the incoming president.
Mandelson’s appointment ends weeks of indecision by Starmer over whether or not to ship the British political heavyweight to have interaction with the incoming administration and attempt to beat back the specter of US tariffs.
Some inside Britain’s Overseas Workplace had urged the prime minister to stay with Pierce, however Starmer’s allies mentioned the prime minister finally believed the case was overwhelming for sending a giant hitter to Washington, not least given Mandelson’s expertise in commerce points.
“It wasn’t a slam dunk,” mentioned one individual near the method. “The prime minister took his time. There were some in the system who wanted Karen to carry on. That was another option.”
Mandelson, a minister below Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, is a talented media and political operator, courting again to his days as Labour’s communications chief within the Eighties when he turned referred to as the “Prince of Darkness”.
“He’s a big name,” mentioned one other official near the choice. “He can do Fox News and the other TV channels and that’s a big part of the job. He’s in a league of his own.”
However his intensive media document can also be a threat. In a 2019 interview he known as Trump “little short of a white nationalist and racist” and argued that even individuals who have a “sneaking admiration” for the incoming president view him as “reckless and a danger to the world”.
Mandelson, a former EU commerce commissioner, has additionally been appointed for his commerce experience, with a direct instruction from Starmer to go off the specter of Britain being focused as a part of Trump’s proposed 10-20 per cent tariff on world imports.
“There’s no reason why Britain should be an immediate target,” mentioned one individual near Starmer. “Peter’s priority then is to design the sort of 21st century digital and services economic agreement, but that would be a medium-term objective.”
Earlier talks on a extra formidable free commerce settlement between the 2 nations have damaged down over meals requirements — the UK bans chlorine-washed hen and hormone-treated beef.
Starmer briefly thought-about rival candidates earlier within the yr, notably former Labour overseas secretary David Miliband and former EU overseas coverage chief Woman Cathy Ashton, however they had been shortly discarded.
“For a long time it has been “Peter or not Peter,” mentioned one Downing Avenue insider. “I never heard any other name mentioned in the ‘or not’ category over recent months. I don’t really know why it took so long.”
Mandelson is near Starmer however not in his inside circle. The potential ambassador was lower than diplomatic earlier this yr when he advised Starmer ought to “shed a few pounds”.
The 71-year-old has additionally been a magnet for controversy through the years. As a minister he was pressured to resign twice from Blair’s authorities and his previous contact with intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein emerged final yr.
Final month, Mandelson advised Starmer ought to use Reform UK chief Nigel Farage as a “bridgehead” to construct relations with Trump and Elon Musk. “Did Peter really say that?” requested one Starmer aide on the time.
His seven-year stint as president of the Nice Britain China Centre, a non-departmental Overseas Workplace physique, has made him a goal for Conservative China hawks and is unlikely to go unnoticed within the Trump staff.
Iain Duncan Smith, former Tory chief, mentioned: “His public stance and private position on China has been absolutely terrible.” He famous Mandelson was the one Labour peer to vote towards laws focusing on Chinese language “genocide” in Xinjiang.
After the vote, Mandelson instructed colleagues that having a “general genocide definition in the formulation of foreign policy” could possibly be too sweeping and can be tough to use, leaving the federal government with its arms tied.
These near Starmer mentioned the prime minister needed to attend till Jonathan Powell, nationwide safety adviser, and Morgan McSweeney, Downing Avenue chief of workers, had met the Trump staff earlier this month earlier than making a remaining determination.
Throughout this hiatus, some officers within the Overseas Workplace pressed the case for Pierce, who took up her put up in Washington in 2020, to hold on, no less than for a yr. “She has very good relations with the Trump team — that was an option,” mentioned one authorities official.
However that was solely seen as a stop-gap answer. “She couldn’t carry on forever,” mentioned one diplomat. She is now in rivalry to grow to be the primary feminine everlasting secretary on the Overseas Workplace.
Whereas Starmer delayed, a formidable coalition of backers fashioned behind Mandelson, together with David Lammy, overseas secretary, Powell and McSweeney.
“Keir likes to take his time with these decisions,” admitted one authorities official. “He did the same thing with the choice of a new cabinet secretary and national security adviser. But in the end the case for Peter was clear.”
Starmer accepted that having a giant identify and political operator would assist to open doorways with the Trump staff. “They’ll like the fact that Peter has a reputation for ruthlessness,” mentioned one Overseas Workplace insider.
Mandelson’s perception that Britain can “have its cake and eat it” by fostering good commerce relations concurrently with Washington, Brussels and Beijing chimes precisely with Starmer’s personal view that he set out in his overseas coverage speech at Guildhall earlier this month.
Starmer mentioned on Friday: “Peter will bring unrivalled experience to the role and take our partnership [with the US] from strength to strength.” Lammy mentioned it was “wonderful to welcome Peter back to the team”.
Mandelson, co-founder of the International Counsel advisory group, mentioned: “It’s a great honour to serve the country in this way.” He has instructed mates that he’ll put his enterprise pursuits “into cold storage” whereas in his new job.
Lord Kim Darroch, UK ambassador to Washington through the first Trump presidency, mentioned most diplomats would settle for the case for inserting a political appointee into the Edwin Lutyens-designed ambassador’s residence at 3100 Massachusetts Avenue.
He instructed the FT: “These are especially turbulent and fragile times. It’s not just about Trump 2 but it’s about Ukraine, China and Nato. In these circumstances it’s good to have someone who can literally pick up the phone to the PM.”
For Mandelson it has been finish to the yr, following his disappointment final month at being overwhelmed by Lord William Hague for the chancellorship of Oxford college.
On Monday he was in hospital having an operation on an aneurysm within the decrease aorta, which mates say was “entirely successful”. His new posting in Washington is anticipated to begin early in 2025.
