Trump Throws Embattled UK PM a Lifeline While Trashing ‘Really Bad’ Epstein-Linked Ex-Ambassador ‘Pick’

(Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP, File)

President Donald Trump threw embattled British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer a political lifeline Monday night while sharply criticizing his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to Washington, whose correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein was revealed in a 2025 tranche of Justice Department files.

Starmer fired Mandelson in September after documents published by Congress exposed his friendship with Epstein after the convicted pedophile’s 2008 criminal case.

After January’s release of Epstein files went public, Mandelson was briefly taken into custody in the U.K. for allegedly sharing sensitive information with the sex offender.

Now, the prime minister is facing mounting scrutiny and pressure over how the decision to appoint Mandelson cleared official channels, despite a failed vetting.

The president weighed in overnight on the controversy, posting on Truth Social, he cited the prime minister’s acknowledgement of his “wrong judgement” but offered a degree of support, adding that Starmer had “plenty of time to recover”:

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. Plenty of time to recover, however! President DJT

(Screengrab via Truth Social)

The intervention comes after a bruising parliamentary appearance in which the prime minister apologized. Starmer told lawmakers he would not have selected Mandelson had he known about the failed security vetting checks, insisting there had been no pressure from Downing Street to force through the nomination.

The row has intensified following revelations that the U.K. Foreign Office approved the appointment despite advice from UK Security Vetting (UKSV) against doing so.

The fallout has already claimed one senior figure, when Starmer fired former top civil servant Sir Olly Robbins last week.

Meanwhile, opposition has piled on the prime minister, with conservative leader Kemi Badenoch calling the failure “a matter of national security.”

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