MAGA goes cold on new British ambassador Mandelson

They do say you shouldn’t take anything for granted and it seems Peter Mandelson is beginning to realize that too. He may have thought that his new appointment as UK ambassador to the US was set in stone — but it has emerged that the president-elect is considering, um, rejecting Sir Keir Starmer’s nominee. Ouch. 

As first reported by the Independent, it transpires that the Trump team says it isn’t certain that Mandelson will be accepted by the Republican leader after he becomes president. For a nominee to officially take on the role, the country’s head of state has to accept the “letters of credence” — and on this, Trump may be dithering. Officials at the White House have, according to the Times of London, admitted they are concerned about the choice for ambassador. The fallout is reportedly over the strained relations between the UK government and the incoming US administration — and concerns about the Labour peer’s perceived links to China. How very curious…

In an unusual turn of events, it turns out that a potential UK-US peacemaker could be Nigel Farage. The Reform UK leader not only invited Lord Mandelson to a pre-inauguration party on Friday, Farage has even had talks with Sir Keir’s top team to help the Labour lot repair their relations with Trump. Yet in a comment noted by the Express that will be unlikely to thaw Reform-Labour relations, one former British ambassador noted that “Mandelson has the skill needed to potentially offset Farage’s influential narrative in DC.” Awkward…

Reports also note that the Reform boss is working with the incoming president’s allies, who have advised Trump to put Starmer at the back of the meeting invite queue over recent quarrels. As one source told the Independent, unhappy relations between the US and the UK have only “been made worse” by Mandelson’s appointment. Will MAGA push him out? Stay tuned…