Trump officers ‘twice warned Starmer to not make boastful Mandelson ambassador to the US’ – however not due to Epstein hyperlinks
Donald Trump aides twice warned Keir Starmer‘s team not to make Peter Mandelson the UK ambassador in the US, but not because of his links to disgraced paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, it has emerged.
Senior members of president’s transition team said that the ‘arrogant’ peer should not be handed the job because of past criticism, which included branding Trump ‘a danger to the world’ and a ‘racist’.
They also flagged that they were unhappy at the way the incumbent ambassador, the well-respected career diplomat Karen Pierce, had been shunted aside to make way for him, according to Politico.
One official told the website: ‘No one was particularly favorable to him [Mandelson], really primarily because he’d been openly nasty about the president… [He had] a bad history of being openly nasty so why would he be a preferred ambassador?’
The message was conveyed to National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell and his then-Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney at a meeting in Florida in early December 2024, the month before began his second term.
And it was made again in a phone call to Powell later the same month, the website claimed.
No10 declined to comment and White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Politico: ‘This is an inaccurate representation of this meeting and what was said.’
It follows claims at the weekend that Trump asked for Pierce to be kept on in a phone call to Starmer in November 2024.
The PM faces more pressure over his decision to hire Mandelson today, after it was revealed the government’s ethics chief was twice denied a chance to question him before he took up the job.
Senior members of president’s transition team said that the peer should not be handed the job because of past criticism, which included branding Trump ‘a danger to the world’
They also flagged that they were unhappy at the way the incumbent ambassador, the well-respected career diplomat Karen Pierce, had been shunted aside to make way for him
The message was conveyed to National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell and Starmer’s then-Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney (above with the PM) at a meeting in Florida in early December 2024, the month before began his second term
The Telegraph said Darren Tierney, then head of the Cabinet Office’s propriety and ethics team, twice approached Mr McSweeney’s team offering to question the peer.
The offers came either side of producing a due diligence report for the government – made public last week – that said there was ‘reputational risk’ in giving the peer the job.
Lord Mandelson was arrested on February 23 on suspicion of misconduct in public office, having been accused of passing sensitive information on to Epstein during his time as business secretary in Gordon Brown’s government.
He was subsequently bailed but later released from his bail conditions, although he remains under investigation. He strenuously denies any wrongdoing.
Last night Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley told US TV the force is looking into an email Mandelson sent to Epstein – as he urged the US authorities to release unredacted correspondence.
In 2019, Lord Mandelson criticised Tory attempts to ‘make common cause with an American President who is little short of a white nationalist and racist’.
When his appointment as ambassador was made public in December 2024, Trump’s campaign manager, Chris LaCivita, branded the peer a ‘moron’ who should ‘stay home’.
The following month, Mandelson said his remarks to an Italian podcast had been ‘ill-judged and wrong’, and Trump had won ‘fresh respect’ since winning a second term in the White House.
Speaking to Fox News he said he was ‘confident’ of striking up a strong working relationship with Trump’s new administration.
