The resignation of Sir Kim Darroch as the UK’s ambassador to the US after controversy over leaked memos in which he criticized Donald Trump could have a chilling effect on international diplomacy, experts have warned.
Veteran diplomats defended Darroch’s confidential memos – in which he referred to the Trump administration as “incompetent” and “inept” – as the nature of an ambassador’s job.
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“He reported as he saw fit, he advised as he saw fit, and he did it on a classified cable,” said Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations and former US diplomat. “This is what ambassadors are meant to do.
“He doesn’t do the prime minister or the foreign minister any favors if he doesn’t give his honest take or his honest advice,” Haass added. “It’s not his fault the cable leaked.”
Sir Christopher Meyer, a former British ambassador, tweeted: “An utter outrage that Kim Darroch has been brought down by a disgraceful leak and the vindictive reaction of the US President. Sir Kim is blameless in this sorry affair.”
Darroch submitted his resignation on Wednesday, three days after his private assessments of the Trump administration were leaked to the Mail on Sunday. In addition to characterizing the current administration as “dysfunctional”, Darroch said the US president “radiates insecurity”.
The comments swiftly ignited a diplomatic row between the US and the UK, and Trump vowed to no longer deal with Darroch, lambasting the UK’s top diplomat as “a very stupid guy”. Trump also attacked the outgoing British prime minister, Theresa May, who stood by Darroch.
Darroch’s decision to leave his post was nonetheless cemented by the Conservative leadership debate on Tuesday, in which frontrunner Boris Johnson repeatedly declined to say if he would retain the ambassador through his scheduled departure of January.
“The current situation is making it impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like,” Darroch wrote in a resignation letter on Wednesday.
After lashing out at Darroch in a series of tweets over the past two days, Trump had yet to weigh in on Darroch’s departure. Marc Short, the chief of staff to the vice-president, Mike Pence, said the move was “probably the right course”.
“I think the reality was that in light of the last few days his ability to be effective was probably limited,” Short told reporters on Wednesday.
A state department spokeswoman said: “The United States and the United Kingdom share a bond that is bigger than any individual, and we look forward to continuing that partnership.”
Darroch’s fate was met with dismay by those who knew him in Washington, where he had cultivated the reputation of a deft diplomat whose parties at the British embassy were coveted social affairs, often attended by members of the Trump administration.
“Up until this, I think diplomats were able to communicate to their governments with honest and valuable information,” said Sally Quinn, a former journalist and socialite who regularly attended Darroch’s parties. “Clearly, we can’t do that anymore.
“I think it’s going to be a very big change in the way diplomacy is conducted.”
Darroch had close ties with the Trump administration. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the president’s daughter and son-in-law, both senior advisers in the West Wing, frequented his parties, as did former White House press secretaries Sarah Sanders and Sean Spicer.
Quinn said Trump’s frustration was probably rooted in knowing that the source of Darroch’s information was his own staff.
“He entertained constantly at the embassy and he entertained Trump people, because they like him,” Quinn said. “It’s embarrassing for Trump, because he’s got to know it’s coming from the inside.”
Darroch was far from alone within the diplomatic community in his assessment of Trump, she added.
“There is not a single word Kim wrote that isn’t absolutely accurate and isn’t the prevailing view in Washington,” Quinn said. “It could have been anyone.
“Every single diplomat is looking at him and saying, ‘There but for the grace of God go I.’”
Even some of Trump’s Republican allies spoke out in Darroch’s favor.
“Kim Darroch did an outstanding job as Ambassador and sorry to see he has resigned his post,” the South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham tweeted, seeking to distance Trump from Darroch’s resignation by adding he had “got a raw deal” from the media.
The Utah senator Mitt Romney said he was “disappointed” to see Darroch go. “He is a fine man,” Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, told reporters, adding: “The lack of security on diplomatic communication within a government is a real problem.”
Darroch was appointed to the post of UK’s envoy to the US in 2015 after serving as David Cameron’s national security adviser. That experience made him a key player in coordinating with Washington on complex issues that spanned Russia to Brexit.
Kate Greer, who worked alongside Darroch from 2015 through 2018, said he played a critical role behind the scenes in the international response to Russia’s 2018 nerve agent attack on British soil and also worked closely with the US government to provide support for those impacted by the hurricane that hit Florida, the Gulf and the British Virgin Islands in 2017.
“It’s been a tricky and challenging political environment on both sides of the ocean,” she said. “The leaks were clearly politically motivated and leaked from someone in London as part of this leadership contest and part of this political debate.”
Haass said Darroch’s decision to resign was ultimately in the service of the UK’s incoming leadership.
“He allowed the next prime minister not to have to choose between protecting his ambassador and protecting the relationship with the United States,” Haass said, while adding he did not believe Darroch’s legacy would be greatly tarnished by the circumstances around his departure.
“This was his last post anyhow. As he rides into the sunset, a lot more people know who Kim Darroch is now than they would have a week ago.”