UK trade official to offer Ivanka Trump apology for leaked memos bashing ‘inept’ administration

British officials searched Monday for the source of leaked diplomatic cables in which Britain’s ambassador to the United States said President Donald Trump “radiates insecurity” and has an “inept” administration.

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, who called the leak “malicious” and “unconscionable,” told the BBC he intends to apologize to the president’s adviser and eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, when he meets with her Monday as part of a previously scheduled visit. 

“I will be apologizing for the fact that either our civil service or elements of our political class have not lived up to the expectations that either we have or the United States has about their behavior, which in this particular case has lapsed in a most extraordinary and unacceptable way,” Fox said. 

When asked about the leaked memos Sunday, President Trump said Ambassador Kim Darroch “has not served the U.K. well.” 

“We’re not big fans of that man,” he said. 

‘Trump radiates insecurity’: UK to investigate leak of ambassador’s scathing takes on White House

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox says there was an "unacceptable" lapse in British behavior. (Photo: Andy Rain, epa-efe)

An investigation into how Darroch’s confidential assessments of what he called a “dysfunctional” White House ended up in the hands of a reporter for the British newspaper the Daily Mail is being conducted by civil servants in the Cabinet Office, Prime Minister Theresa May’s spokesman, James Slack, said Monday. 

Slack said May has “full faith” in Darroch though the prime minister does not share the ambassador’s views of Trump or his administration. 

May’s spokesman said the White House was told that “we believe the leak is unacceptable” and “a matter of regret,” according to The Guardian, but he added that it is an ambassador’s job to give “honest, unvarnished assessments.”  

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt condemned the leak and called for the person behind it to face “very serious consequences” but said Darroch’s ability to share his honest opinion is “fundamental” to diplomacy. 

“I don’t share the ambassador’s assessment of either the U.S. administration or relations with the U.S. administration. But I do defend his right to make that frank assessment,” Hunt said. 

UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt: "I don't share the ambassador's assessment of either the US administration or relations with the US administration. But I do defend his right to make that frank assessment." pic.twitter.com/2EQUj3j2iz

The leaked cables acquired by the Daily Mail spanned a period from 2017 to the present. The most inflammatory statements came from a June 22, 2017, briefing note prepared for senior British officials about the new president and his team. 

“For a man who has risen to the highest office on the planet, President Trump radiates insecurity,” Darroch wrote in that memo. “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.”

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