British government responds after leaked criticism of Trump

The British government released a statement calling a recent leak of emails “unfortunate” after the United Kingdom’s ambassador to the U.S., Kim Darroch, was found to have lambasted the Trump administration as “inept” and “incompetent” in diplomatic messages.

“We have made clear to the U.S. how unfortunate this leak is,” the British government said in a statement Monday, according to The Washington Post. “The selective extracts leaked do not reflect the closeness of, and the esteem in which we hold, the relationship.”

The government also added that it had “underlined the importance of Ambassadors being able to provide honest, unvarnished assessments of the politics in their country.”

The British government noted its ambassador “continues to have the Prime Minister’s full support.”

President Donald Trump took aim at Darroch on Sunday, saying the ambassador had “not served the U.K. well.”

“We’ve had our little ins and outs with a couple of countries, and I would say that the U.K., and the ambassador has not served the U.K. well, I can tell you that,” Trump told reporters when asked about Darroch’s remarks.