US President Donald Trump announced on Monday that the White House will no longer deal with British Ambassador to the US Kim Darroch, following a series of leaked diplomatic cables which revealed Darroch told 10 Downing Street that the administration was "inept" and "clumsy".
"I have been very critical about the way the U.K. and Prime Minister Theresa May handled Brexit. What a mess she and her representatives have created. I told her how it should be done, but she decided to go another way. I do not know the Ambassador, but he is not liked or well thought of within the US," Trump tweeted.
"We will no longer deal with him. The good news for the wonderful United Kingdom is that they will soon have a new Prime Minister. While I thoroughly enjoyed the magnificent State Visit last month, it was the Queen who I was most impressed with!" he added.
In the cables leaked to the Daily Mail newspaper, Darroch warned the British government that Trump's "career could end in disgrace," and described conflicts within the White House as "knife fights."
A UK government source told CNN the memos described in the Daily Mail story, which span the period between 2017 to present day, are genuine.
Senior British politicians have defended the country's ambassador to the US and the UK Prime Minister's spokesman said Monday that Theresa May has "full faith" in Darroch, adding that providing an "unvarnished assessment" is an ambassador's job.
The spokesman added, however, that May does not agree with Darroch and that London had contacted Washington to say the leaks were "unacceptable and a matter of regret."
Asked specifically about Trump's tweets, May's office told CNN that the Prime Minister's position is "unchanged from earlier today."
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Monday that while he did not share Darroch's views, it was still "very important" that UK diplomats across the world can "continue to give us their frank assessments."
"We need to be able to have a debate inside these (government) buildings, we need to be able to disagree," Hunt told reporters during a press conference in London on Monday, according to CNN.
He said there would be a "leak inquiry" to "get to the bottom" of the incident and that there would be "very serious consequences" for the person responsible.