Every newly appointed official in the United Kingdom Labour government’s Foreign Office appears to have a long history of taking jabs at and smearing former U.S. President Donald J. Trump. Should the former Republican President retake the White House in November, potentially cold relations could complicate UK efforts to engage with Trump and the U.S. government.
The National Pulse reported in mid-July that Britain‘s new Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, has thus far refused to apologize for calling Trump a “neo-Nazi sympathizing sociopath” and “tyrant.” Defending his remarks, Lammy argued, “You’re going to struggle to find any politician who has not had things to say about Donald Trump in his first term, particularly on Twitter.”
With the U.S. presidential election neck-and-neck between Trump and the Democratic Party nominee, Kamala Harris, Lammy has toned down his recent criticism of the former President, going so far as to say Trump’s stance on NATO and European security is “often misunderstood.” However, the anti-Trump sentiment in the Foreign Office does not end with the Foreign Secretary.
The new North America Minister, Stephen Doughty, and Indo-Pacific Minister, Catherine West, pushed an April 2019 parliamentary motion demanding the then-Conservative UK government cancel Trump‘s state visit. International Development Minister Anneliese Dodds also signed on to the motion at the time, which condemned Trump for allegedly promoting misogyny and xenophobia.
During the debate over the state visit, Doughty accused Trump of lacking “basic values of humanity and equality.” Meanwhile, Dodds said Trump did not abide by “democratic values.”
Woody Johnson, the former U.S. ambassador to the UK under Trump, recently reminded Lammy of his past comments and those from other ministers in the government, warning they were not “wise.” Johnson reportedly told the Foreign Secretary that “people will remember all those comments.”
