Trump more like capricious medieval king than politician, says former top UK diplomat

Kim Darroch said the President had turned the Oval Office in the White House “into a reality TV set”.

He made the comments during an appearance on Iain Dale’s All Talk show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Lord Darroch was the UK’s ambassador to the US during Mr Trump’s first term, but quit in 2019 following a huge row over leaked cables in which he described the President’s administration as "clumsy and inept”. Mr Trump later called him a "stupid guy" and a "pompous fool".

Lord Darroch told the event the President now had a “slightly scary sense of destiny” after surviving an assassination attempt last year.

He said Mr Trump “was made by reality TV”, adding: “He was the American version of Alan Sugar, Sir Alan, on The Apprentice.”

He continued: “He learnt a lot about how to present himself from reality TV, and I think he has now literally turned the Oval Office into a reality TV set.”

Lord Darroch pointed to the Oval Office showdown with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy in February.

“I did notice at the end of it, [Mr Trump] said, ‘This is going to make great TV’. So that’s become a reality TV show, a daily show for his followers.”

Later, the former ambassador told the event: “He’s more like a sort of medieval king in his capricious decision-making, than he is like a modern politician.”

However, Lord Darroch said Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had proved himself an adept “Trump whisperer”, securing a better deal on tariffs than many other countries.

“So far, against a lot of predictions, Keir Starmer has proved himself really quite an adept Trump whisperer,” he said. “He’s done some clever things.”

Referring to the row over his leaked cables, Lord Darroch, who also served as a national security adviser and UK permanent representative to the European Union, said it was better to “crash and burn” over briefings that turned out to be accurate.

He said he had been told by former prime minister David Cameron to “tell it like it is”.