'Really bad pick!' Donald Trump rips into Keir Starmer for appointing Lord Mandelson in latest swipe at PM

Donald Trump has laid into Sir Keir Starmer over his appointment of Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the US in his latest swipe at the PM.

In a late-night social media post, Mr Trump said: "Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom acknowledged that he 'exercised wrong judgement' when he chose his ambassador to Washington.

"I agree, he was a really bad pick."

"Plenty of time to recover, however," the President prodded.

The Labour grandee had been sent to DC to help charm the President just before his return to the White House last January.

At the signing of the US-UK trade deal, Lord Mandelson was complimented by Mr Trump for his "beautiful accent" and was given the floor to make remarks to reporters.

He was later reported to have left that meeting with a handwritten note from the President reading: "Peter, Great Job!"

Even with his links to Jeffrey Epstein aside, some in Maga circles had raised eyebrows over Lord Mandelson's appointment.

Steve Bannon had warned he was a "terrible choice" because of his prior remarks about the President.

The then-Labour peer had previously referred to Trump as a "bully", "reckless", and a "danger to the world" in comments he later walked back on to Fox News.

Back in the UK, the Prime Minister yesterday insisted No10 had not forced through Lord Mandelson's appointment as ambassador.

He claimed to MPs he would not have appointed him if he had known the peer had failed his checks and "full due process" was followed throughout.

The House of Commons will subject Sir Keir's efforts to lay out the facts of the scandal to further scrutiny on Tuesday, as MPs hold an emergency debate on Lord Mandelson’s appointment.

The debate is expected to start at around 12.30pm on Tuesday, shortly after ex-Foreign Office mandarin Sir Olly Robbins provides evidence to MPs.

That comes ahead of the looming release of a new tranche of so-called "Mandelson files".

Politico revealed yesterday that ministers and officials' harshest comments about Mr Trump will not be made public in the next document dump to avoid further tearing up the "special relationship" after a series of blows over Iran, Greenland, oil and the Chagos Islands.

Already this year, Mr Trump has publicly lambasted Sir Keir for his refusal to allow offensive US strikes on Iran from UK or joint bases.

He has also branded the Chagos "surrender" deal an "act of great stupidity", chastened Britain over its stance on a potential American takeover of Greenland, and repeatedly urged Labour to open up the North Sea to oil drilling.

Now, Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee will be casting an eye over the files to ensure nothing emerges which could make things worse.

Ministers are said to be keen to avoid a repeat of the 2019 row which saw the then-British ambassador to Washington, Lord Darroch, described the first Trump administration as "inept" and "clumsy" in a leaked diplomatic cables.

His replacement, Dame Karen Pierce, was well-liked by the White House, with the President viewing her as a "respected" and "effective" diplomat, according to reports.

More to follow...