Boris Johnson has refused to guarantee that he would keep Sir Kim Darroch as the UK’s ambassador to the US if he becomes the next prime minister after Donald Trump said he would no longer deal with Britain’s man in Washington.
Mr Johnson said he would not be so ‘presumptuous’ as to talk about decisions he may make if he wins the race for Number 10.
But his Tory leadership rival Jeremy Hunt was unequivocal as he said he would keep Sir Kim in post until the veteran diplomat retires as the pair clashed during a televised head-to-head debate this evening.
Mr Johnson repeatedly dodged the question over Sir Kim’s future, prompting the Foreign Secretary to try to pin him down on the issue.
Mr Hunt said: ‘I will keep him until he is due to retire and I think we would like to know if you would.’
Mr Johnson replied: ‘I am not going to be so presumptuous… what I will say is I, and I alone, will decide who takes important politically sensitive jobs such as the UK ambassador to the US.’
The ITV clash came after Mr Hunt had earlier demanded Mr Trump treat the UK ‘with respect’ as he criticised the US President for attacking Mrs May.
Before the debate the Foreign Secretary said Mr Trump was ‘disrespectful and wrong’ to have called Mrs May a ‘disaster’ and Sir Kim Darroch a ‘pompous fool’ as he upped the stakes in a worsening row with the US over leaked diplomatic memos.
The US President had described Sir Kim as a ‘very stupid guy’ who had been ‘foisted upon the United States’ and labelled Mrs May’s handling of Brexit a ‘mess’ before then calling her ‘foolish’.
Mr Trump’s comments added fuel to the fire of what was already an incredibly damaging row between the two old allies after it emerged Sir Kim had called the US President ‘inept’.
The row has now taken over the Tory leadership race as the two candidates battled it out over whether the US President had acted in an appropriate way.
Boris Johnson entered this evening’s debate as the overwhelming favourite to be the next PM
Jeremy Hunt is viewed as the underdog in the race for Number 10 with this evening’s debate seen as potentially his last chance to win over Tory members
Mr Hunt doubled down on his criticism of the US President during the debate as he said: ‘His comments about Theresa May were unacceptable and I don’t think he should have made them.’
Mr Johnson said he had a ‘very good relationship with the White House’ but did then hint that Mr Trump’s comments may have been unwise.
Earlier in the day Mr Johnson had dodged the question over whether Mr Trump was right to attack the PM.
Tonight he said: ‘I don’t think if he was dragged into a British political debate in the way he sometimes is, I don’t think that is necessary the right thing for him to do as Jeremy has said.
‘Our relationship with the US is of fantastic importance.’
Addressing Mr Trump on Twitter this afternoon, Mr Hunt had said: ‘Friends speak frankly so I will: these comments are disrespectful and wrong to our Prime Minister and my country.
‘Your diplomats give their private opinions to [US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo] and so do ours!
‘You said the UK/US alliance was the greatest in history and I agree but allies need to treat each other with respect as Theresa May has always done with you.
‘Ambassadors are appointed by the UK government and if I become PM our Ambassador stays.’
Mr Hunt’s decision to promise to keep Sir Kim in post is likely to have further incensed the US President given that Mr Trump has said he will no longer deal with the ambassador.
But Mr Johnson’s refusal to give a cast iron assurance over the ambassador’s position is likely to increase speculation that Sir Kim will be replaced if the former mayor of London is made prime minister on July 24.
Mr Trump tweeted earlier today: ‘The wacky Ambassador that the U.K. foisted upon the United States is not someone we are thrilled with, a very stupid guy.
‘He should speak to his country, and Prime Minister May, about their failed Brexit negotiation, and not be upset with my criticism of how badly it was handled.
‘I told how to do that deal, but she went her own foolish way-was unable to get it done. A disaster! I don’t know the Ambassador but have been told he is a pompous fool.’
Mr Hunt said Mr Trump’s comments were ‘unacceptable’ but Mr Johnson was more diplomatic
Mr Trump, pictured today during a meeting in the Oval Office, called Mrs May ‘foolish’ and Sir Kim a ‘very stupid guy’ as he continued to respond to leaked comments from the UK’s ambassador in Washington
Downing Street responded to the latest barrage of criticism from Mr Trump by insisting Sir Kim is a ‘highly respected and dutiful public servant and he has the full confidence of the Prime Minister’.
Number 10 also suggested Sir Kim would remain ambassador for the foreseeable future as the PM’s official spokesman said: ‘The United Kingdom Government determines who its ambassador is.’
But the leaked memos have already had a significant impact on US/UK relations.
Sir Kim was excluded from a meeting between Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary, and Ivanka Trump today and was also barred from attending a formal White House dinner last night.
A meeting between Dr Fox and the US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, which had been due to take place today, was cancelled – reportedly because Sir Kim was going to attend.
The British government has been scrambling to try to repair the damage done by the leaked documents which revealed Sir Kim had called the Trump administration ‘uniquely dysfunctional’.
The Prime Minister has stuck by the veteran diplomat with Sir Kim continuing to enjoy the ‘full support’ of Mrs May.
However, with the PM set to leave office in just two weeks, her replacement could be faced with a major headache as soon as they are handed the keys to the famous black door.
If the next PM decides to keep Sir Kim in post then relations with the White House are likely to continue to go downhill.
Sir Kim was barred from a glitzy event for the Amir of Qatar after the US President said that he will ‘refuse to deal’ with the ambassador
But Downing Street has refused to bend, saying the veteran diplomat continues to have the ‘full support’ of the Prime Minster
But if Mrs May’s successor opts to replace Sir Kim they will face accusations of being in the pocket of the US President.
Before tonight’s debate Mr Johnson would not be drawn on whether Mr Trump was right to attack Mrs May’s handling of talks with Brussels.
Speaking during a visit to Manchester Airport ahead of a Tory leadership hustings event this evening, he said: ‘Myself, I have said some pretty critical things about the Brexit negotiations so far and that’s one of the reasons I am standing tonight and one of the reasons I am putting myself forward.
‘I think there is a chance to do things differently, a chance to break away from the failed old can-kicking approaching. Now is the time to really get a grip on this.’
Boris Johnson, pictured at Manchester Airport today, declined to criticise Mr Trump’s handling of the row
One Government source told MailOnline the US President’s reaction demonstrated that Sir Kim’s diplomatic telegrams were ‘right on the money’.
The source said Mr Trump should take up any gripes he has ‘with the Queen’ in an apparent reference to the US President saying yesterday he had been ‘most impressed’ by the monarch during his state visit last month.
‘Kim Darroch is an exemplary public servant, who serves Her Majesty’s government incredibly well,’ the source said.
‘If any of our allies have a problem with that they might want to take it up with the Queen.
‘You can imagine all of their people will have their heads in their hands right now. They can’t control what he does.’
Sir Kim Darroch labelled Mr Trump ‘inept’ in a series of diplomatic cables which were leaked. The leak is now the subject of a formal Cabinet Office investigation
Secret cables leaked to The Mail on Sunday over the weekend showed Sir Kim had said that the White House would likely ‘never look competent’ under Mr Trump.
It prompted a tweet on Monday night in which Mr Trump said Sir Kim was ‘not well thought of’ in the US as he vowed to no longer do business with him.
He also criticised Mrs May’s handling of Brexit and said she had made a ‘mess’ of talks with Brussels.
‘I do not know the Ambassador, but he is not liked or well thought of within the US,’ he said.
‘We will no longer deal with him.’
‘The good news for the wonderful United Kingdom is that they will soon have a new Prime Minister,’ Trump continued.
‘While I thoroughly enjoyed the magnificent State Visit last month, it was the Queen who I was most impressed with!’
Following Mr Trump’s tweets last night Mrs May reiterated a statement she made earlier in the day saying she had ‘full faith’ in Sir Kim.
A Government spokesman said: ‘We have made clear to the US how unfortunate this leak is. The selective extracts leaked do not reflect the closeness of, and the esteem in which we hold, the relationship.
‘At the same time we have also underlined the importance of Ambassadors being able to provide honest, unvarnished assessments of the politics in their country.
‘Sir Kim Darroch continues to have the Prime Minister’s full support.
‘The UK has a special and enduring relationship with the US based on our long history and commitment to shared values and that will continue to be the case.’
Responding to Mr Trump’s claim that Mrs May had made a ‘mess’ of Brexit, her official spokesman said today: ‘The Prime Minister has set out that she believes she secured a good deal.’
The spokesman suggested the PM believed the ambassador should be kept in post for the foreseeable future as he said Sir Kim has ‘an important job to do’.
However, the fact that the Trump administration has already moved to ban Sir Kim from official events suggests it may be difficult for him to continue in his current role.
Veterans of former Tory governments were heavily critical of the way in which Mr Trump has been conducting himself.
Former foreign minister Sir Malcolm Rifkind, a close friend of Sir Kim, told MailOnline that it was Mr Trump who is ‘wacky and strange’.
‘It’s the pot calling the kettle black,’ the Tory grandee said.
‘I know Kim Darroch well, I cannot think of anyone less wacky and less strange.
‘And I can think of some people for whom that description would fit perfectly. One of them lives in the White House.’
Sir Malcolm added: ‘Mr Trump’s tweets have been going on now for two years. Most of America ignores most of them. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t as well.’
Lord Heseltine, the former Tory deputy prime minister, told MailOnline: ‘This is characteristic of what he does. It is particularly regrettable when it applies to something to do with this country.
‘He sounds off in a way that is totally beneath the dignity of the office.’
Lord Heseltine also said the comments showed pro-Brexit MPs were ‘living in a fool’s paradise’ if they believed the UK could strike a fair future trade deal with Mr Trump.
President Trump said Tuesday that his administration ‘will no longer deal with’ the UK’s ambassador, who trashed him in secret memos leaked to The Mail on Sunday
Trump is seen left with the emir of Qatar. The emir is in Washington to discuss regional issues including counterterrorism and relations with Gulf states
Trump gave Sir Kim Darroch the back of his hand in a pair of tweets that also lashed out at outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May
British officials are investigating whether a hostile state such as Russia was behind the leak of the secret diplomatic memos in which Sir Kim was highly critical of Mr Trump’s administration.
The Cabinet Office is conducting a formal probe into the origins of the leak amid fears that the culprit could be someone intent on damaging Britain’s relations with the US.
Sir Kim’s assessments of the Trump administration in briefing notes from 2017 to the present have proved to be highly embarrassing for the Foreign Office.
One suggests that in order to communicate with the president ‘you need to make your points simple, even blunt’.
He also said: ‘We don’t really believe this administration is going to become substantially more normal; less dysfunctional; less unpredictable; less faction riven; less diplomatically clumsy and inept.’
Another note questioned whether the White House ‘will ever look competent’.
Following Mr Trump’s state visit to the UK in June, Sir Kim warned that although the US President had been ‘dazzled’ by the pomp, his administration would remain self-interested and ‘this is still the land of America First’.
In one of the most recent documents, Sir Kim refers to ‘incoherent, chaotic’ US policy on Iran and questions Mr Trump’s publicly stated reason for calling off a retaliatory air strike against Tehran following the downing of an American drone.
Media reports of ‘vicious infighting and chaos’ were ‘mostly true’ despite the president’s attempts to brush them off, he said.
Referring to allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, the memo said ‘the worst cannot be ruled out’.