The UK’s choice for the next ambassador to the US, Lord Peter Mandelson, has described his previous criticism of Donald Trump as “ill-judged and wrong”.
Speaking in an interview with US broadcaster Fox News, he said the new US president had won “fresh respect” from him, adding he was “quite confident” Trump would approve of his appointment.
As part of the process Lord Mandelson’s credentials have to be presented to Trump, which the president is reportedly expected to agree to.
In previous years, Lord Mandelson has described Trump as “reckless” and “a bully”.
In an interview with an Italian journalist in 2019, he described Trump as “reckless and a danger to the world”.
This followed a 2018 interview with the Evening Standard where he described Trump as “a bully”.
But he told Fox News: “I made those remarks six years ago in 2019, led rather along this by an Italian journalist… it was a time in Britain by the way with very fraught politics and there was high emotion about many things in Britain at that time.
“I consider my remarks about President Trump as ill-judged and wrong.
“And I think that time and attitudes towards the president has changed since then.”
Acknowledging Trump’s “extraordinary” second mandate, Lord Mandelson said Trump had won “fresh respect” from him and said he had heard nothing from the White House that suggested there was going to be any difficulty about his appointment.
Credit: bbc.com
