Trump team set to 'lock out' UK after Mandelson picked to be ambassador to the US

Peter Mandelson’s nomination as Britain’s new ambassador to the United States has provoked fury within Donald Trump’s team, with one insider describing it as a “horrible, arrogant” choice and his campaign coordinator publicly calling the Labour peer a "moron."

- DAVID MADDOX

The choice of the former EU commissioner and Blair-era minister, who previously attacked Mr Trump as "little short of a white nationalist and racist”, prompted a warning that Britain will be "locked out of the most important discussions" with the president-elect's team because of a lack of trust.

Lord Mandelson's appointment to Washington means the three people charged with building relations with the incoming administration have all insulted Mr Trump: foreign secretary David Lammy once tweeted that Mr Trump is a "tyrant" and "a woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath", while foreign minister Stephen Doughty organised a 2017 petition to stop Mr Trump addressing a joint sitting of parliament.

Lord Mandelson described Mr Trump as "a danger to the world" and attacked his anti-China stance, claiming it put international free trade "at risk”.

Sources in Mr Trump's team expressed concern about Lord Mandelson's ties to Beijing and the EU, and noted his close links to the disgraced tycoon and paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Mr Trump's recent campaign coordinator, Chris LaCivita, posted on X late on Friday that Lord Mandelson is a "moron".

He wrote: “This UK government is special. Replace a professional universally respected ambassador with an absolute moron – he should stay home! SAD! Mandelson described Trump as a danger to the world and ‘little short of a white nationalist’.”

A well-placed Trump source said of the appointment: “It’s not going over well. I think it’s a horrible arrogant pick – and one that’s likely to get the UK locked out of most important discussions.”