Former UK diplomats Simon McDonald, John Kerr, and Sir Peter Westmacott are calling for the British government to draw up secret plans to thwart Donald Trump’s foreign policy in the event he is once again elected to the U.S. presidency. The three diplomats are concerned that Trump, a vocal critic of NATO and needless foreign entanglements, is likely to significant diminish U.S. involvement in the Ukraine war.
The trio “said preparations to help the UK cope if Mr Trump were to end US support for Ukraine and withdraw from Nato must be drawn up in secret to avoid giving him a campaign boost.”
Despite the current legal challenges Trump is facing, the three diplomats believe his reelection is likely.
“There’s not much point in saying, ‘We know he’s a monster, he’s unprincipled, he’s a misogynistic fraud and liar and destroyer of constitutions.’ The reality is: he will be there. We have to find ways of engaging with the US if Trump is elected,” said Westmacott, who served as British ambassador to the U.S. from 2012 to 2016.
McDonald, former head of Britain’s Foreign Office and the current Senior Member of the House of Lords, emphasized the need for readiness, stating the implications of a second Trump tenure would be ‘massive’ for the UK. John Kerr, a crossbench peer who served as Britain’s ambassador to Washington from 1995 to 1997, said Britain and other allies should “get together discreetly” to plan for an impending Trump presidency.
The comments of the former diplomats come as President Joe Biden’s popularity continues to plummet, with a recent poll finding that Black, Hispanic, and young voters are abandoning support for the Democratic president in droves.