Donald Trump lays the boot into Keir Starmer over Peter Mandelson as he says Labour grandee was 'a really bad pick' for US ambassador

By PATRICK HARRINGTON, UK NEWS REPORTER Published: 06:32, 21 April 2026 | Updated: 06:55, 21 April 2026 Donald Trump has stuck the boot into Keir Starmer over the Peter Mandelson scandal, jibing he was a 'really bad pick' for the job of US ambassador. In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote: 'Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom acknowledged that he 'exercised wrong judgement' when he chose his Ambassador to Washington. 'I agree, he was a really bad pick.' Apparently leaving the door open to Starmer for redemtion, the President added: 'Plenty of time to recover, however! President DJT.' Starmer faced anger and ridicule in the Commons yesterday as he tried to blame officials for his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as US ambassador. The Prime Minister was drowned out by mocking laughter as he admitted his own version of events 'beggars belief'. Kemi Badenoch warned Sir Keir's explanation was becoming 'murkier and more contradictory' and he faced sustained criticism from his own MPs as he struggled to explain why he gave Mandelson the job before he had been vetted, despite being warned about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and business links to China and Russia. Sir Keir denied misleading MPs, insisting he was the victim of a 'deliberate' attempt by officials to keep him in the dark about the fact that Mandelson had failed his security vetting for the role. Donald Trump has weighed in to agree that Peter Mandelson was a 'really bad pick' all along for UK ambassador to the US Keir Starmer had already limped through a gruelling day in the Commons yesterday Trump laid into Starmer's decision to appoint Mandelson with a post on Truth Social He admitted it had been a mistake to bring back the disgraced Labour peer, describing it as 'wrong' – and insisted he would 'take responsibility' for that. But he claimed he would never have given the Labour grandee the job if he had known that he failed his vetting in January 2025. Instead he angrily blamed the Foreign Office, whose top civil servant Sir Olly Robbins was sacked last week for overruling the UK Security Vetting recommendation so Mandelson could take up the role of US ambassador.  During angry scenes in the Commons, Sir Keir faced criticism from all sides. Mrs Badenoch told Sir Keir his reputation was at stake and warned him: 'It is finally time for the truth.' Starmer faced scepticism even from his own benches in the Commons yesterday Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservatives, made clear this was his moment of reckoning The Tory leader added: 'We know the PM announced the appointment before vetting was complete, an extraordinary and unprecedented step for the role of US ambassador. 'We still do not know exactly why Peter Mandelson failed that vetting. 'We do not know what risks our country was exposed to, and we do not know how it is possible that the Prime Minister said repeatedly that this was a failure of vetting, went on television and said things that were blatantly incorrect, and not a single advisor or a single official told him what he was saying wasn't true. At every turn with every explanation, the Government's story has become murkier and more contradictory.' Dame Emily Thornberry, Labour chairman of the Commons' foreign affairs committee, said Downing Street's desire to appoint Mandelson 'was a priority that overrode everything else', including national security. Labour veteran Diane Abbott noted that Mandelson had been forced to resign from Cabinet twice, telling the PM: 'Peter Mandelson has a history. What this House wants to know is why, knowing Peter Mandelson's history, going back 30 years... it's one thing to say, 'Nobody told me. Nobody told me is, why didn't the Prime Minister ask?' Chris Hinchliff, Labour MP for North East Hertfordshire, said it seemed 'wholly incredible' that Sir Olly would have overruled the vetting agency 'on a personal whim' – and suggested he had faced 'political pressure from No 10 to advance a man that a certain faction in the Labour Party have looked to for moral and spiritual leadership for years'. Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey called on Sir Keir to resign, saying he appeared to be 'in office, but not in power'. He added: 'We all know the truth: The Prime Minister knew that appointing Mandelson was an enormous risk, but he decided that it was a risk worth taking – a catastrophic error of judgment. Now that has blown up in his face, the only decent thing to do is take responsibility.' Reform MP Lee Anderson and former Labour MP Zarah Sultana were told to leave the Commons chamber after branding the PM a liar. To the astonishment of MPs, Sir Keir claimed he did not mislead them – even inadvertently – on the many occasions on which he claimed the 'full due process' had been followed at all times. 'I did not mislead the House of Commons,' he said. 'I accept information that I should have had should have been before the House. But I did not mislead the House.' Yesterday he said: 'At the heart of this there is a judgment I made that was wrong. I should not have appointed Peter Mandelson.' But he was unable to explain why only aides and officials have had to quit over the scandal, including chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and communications director Tim Allan. And Sir Keir could not say why he ignored advice from then-Cabinet Secretary Mr Case in November 2024 – before Mandelson's appointment was announced – that the vetting of a candidate should be carried out 'before' they are announced. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.