Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment as Britain’s ambassador to Washington was slammed on Friday by certainly one of Donald Trump’s high marketing campaign strategists, who advised the veteran UK politician to “keep dwelling”.
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 “hazard to the world” and “little wanting a white nationalist”.
“This UK govt is particular,” he wrote on X. “Exchange an expert universally revered Ambo with an absolute moron – he ought to keep dwelling ! SAD!”
The publish 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 interact with the incoming administration and attempt to keep off the specter of US tariffs.
Some inside Britain’s International 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 have been some within the system who needed Karen to hold on. That was an alternative choice.”
Mandelson, a minister beneath Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, is a talented media and political operator, relationship again to his days as Labour’s communications chief within the Nineteen Eighties when he grew to become referred to as the “Prince of Darkness”.
“He’s a giant title,” mentioned one other official near the choice. “He can do Fox Information and the opposite TV channels and that’s a giant a part of the job. He’s in a league of his personal.”
However his intensive media report can also be a danger. In a 2019 interview he known as Trump “little wanting 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 hazard to the world”.
Mandelson, a former EU commerce commissioner, has additionally been appointed for his commerce experience, with a right away instruction from Starmer to move 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 cause why Britain must be a right away goal,” mentioned one individual near Starmer. “Peter’s precedence then is to design the form of twenty first century digital and providers financial settlement, however that might be a medium-term goal.”
Earlier talks on a extra bold free commerce settlement between the 2 nations have damaged down over meals requirements — the UK bans chlorine-washed rooster and hormone-treated beef.
Starmer briefly thought-about rival candidates earlier within the yr, notably former Labour international secretary David Miliband and former EU international coverage chief Girl Cathy Ashton, however they had been shortly discarded.
“For a very long time it has been “Peter or not Peter,” mentioned one Downing Road insider. “I by no means heard every other title talked about within the ‘or not’ class over latest months. I don’t actually know why it took so lengthy.”
Mandelson is near Starmer however not in his interior circle. The possible ambassador was lower than diplomatic earlier this yr when he advised Starmer ought to “shed just a few kilos”.
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 actually say that?” requested one Starmer aide on the time.
His seven-year stint as president of the Nice Britain China Centre, a non-departmental International Workplace physique, has made him a goal for Conservative China hawks and is unlikely to go unnoticed within the Trump crew.
Iain Duncan Smith, former Tory chief, mentioned: “His public stance and personal place on China has been completely horrible.” He famous Mandelson was the one Labour peer to vote in opposition to laws focusing on Chinese language “genocide” in Xinjiang.
After the vote, Mandelson advised colleagues that having a “basic genocide definition within the formulation of international coverage” might be too sweeping and could be troublesome to use, leaving the federal government with its fingers tied.
These near Starmer mentioned the prime minister needed to attend till Jonathan Powell, nationwide safety adviser, and Morgan McSweeney, Downing Road chief of employees, had met the Trump crew earlier this month earlier than making a remaining determination.
Throughout this hiatus, some officers within the International Workplace pressed the case for Pierce, who took up her publish in Washington in 2020, to hold on, not less than for a yr. “She has superb relations with the Trump crew — that was an possibility,” mentioned one authorities official.
However that was solely seen as a stop-gap answer. “She couldn’t stick with it ceaselessly,” mentioned one diplomat. She is now in competition to turn out to be the primary feminine everlasting secretary on the International Workplace.
Whereas Starmer delayed, a formidable coalition of backers shaped behind Mandelson, together with David Lammy, international secretary, Powell and McSweeney.
“Keir likes to take his time with these selections,” admitted one authorities official. “He did the identical factor with the selection of a brand new cupboard secretary and nationwide safety adviser. However in the long run the case for Peter was clear.”
Starmer accepted that having a giant title and political operator would assist to open doorways with the Trump crew. “They’ll like the truth that Peter has a popularity for ruthlessness,” mentioned one International 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 international coverage speech at Guildhall earlier this month.
Starmer mentioned on Friday: “Peter will convey unrivalled expertise to the position and take our partnership [with the US] from energy to energy.” Lammy mentioned it was “fantastic to welcome Peter again to the crew”.
Mandelson, co-founder of the World Counsel advisory group, mentioned: “It’s an awesome honour to serve the nation on this manner.” He has advised pals that he’ll put his enterprise pursuits “into chilly storage” whereas in his new job.
Lord Kim Darroch, UK ambassador to Washington in the course of 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 advised the FT: “These are particularly turbulent and fragile occasions. It’s not nearly Trump 2 nevertheless it’s about Ukraine, China and Nato. In these circumstances it’s good to have somebody who can actually choose up the cellphone to the PM.”
For Mandelson it has been a very good finish to the yr, following his disappointment final month at being crushed 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 pals say was “completely profitable”. His new posting in Washington is predicted to begin early in 2025.
