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Trump Considering Rejecting U.K.'s Pick for Ambassador to U.S.

UK nominee for ambassador t the U.S., Peter Mandelson. Credit: Ryan Rayburn/IMF Photo

According to a report in London’s The Independent, Donald Trump is considering rejecting the U.K. nominee for ambassador to the U.S., Peter Mandelson. “It is quite possible that Mandelson’s credentials could still be rejected,” one source said. The paper has heard from what they claim are sources in the Trump team that Mandelson’s nomination is up in the air, citing the tensions created by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the Labour Party’s having campaigned for Kamala Harris last year—a relationship which has only continued to sour—and then was supposedly “made worse” with the announcement of Mandelson in December, they claimed. Mandelson’s supposed support for closer ties with China is also cited as a reason for distrust.

Another source added: “Ideally, they would like Labour to pull the Mandelson appointment.” If the Trump Administration rejects Mandelson’s credentials for post as ambassador to the U.S., it would be the first time ever a U.K. ambassador to Washington or a U.S. ambassador to London was rejected, The Independent claimed.

The Independent published a follow-up article on Jan. 20, claiming the new administration is leaning toward rejecting Mandelson’s credentials when they are presented. “There’s also a possibility that they approve it conditionally,” a source on the Trump team claimed. “There would be a very short leash.”

Mandelson is a top-level British agent who has been an asset of the British establishment for decades. He was a close ally of Tony Blair and is also considered close to the monarchy. Mandelson wrote a lengthy op-ed Jan. 17 in Fox News where he made a blatant attempt to cozy up to Trump and his admirers.

Trump’s “straight-talking and deal-making instincts overseas should be viewed by allies as a significant opportunity to bring entrepreneurial thinking and urgency to resolving foreign policy that needs real-world solutions,” Mandelson wrote. These are skills that will be useful to deal with Iran, which he called “a thoroughly malign force in the region,” and China, which he said “is more aggressive abroad” and “directly challenges Western governments and our values.”

Mandelson concludes with: “The Trump administration will rightly put the needs of Americans first. But in its closest allies, it will find old partners open to new ways of dealing with the current world—to protect, enrich and build opportunities for Americans and our own citizens alike.”