It was an eventful Monday morning to Peter Mandelson, who had his house wrapped before going to the Buckingham Palace for an audience with King Charles III, on the eve of becoming British Ambassador to the United States.
But the stress of leaving London may not compare to what awaits Mr. Mandelson when he landed in Washington on Wednesday. Few British diplomats have taken a job at political risks only that of Mr. Mandelson. His first day at the Embassy will coincide with the 18th day of President Trump at the Oval Office – and already, some of the strongest alliances in America are leaning.
While packing boxes, Mr. Mandelson had an eye on Mr. Trump’s last exchanges with Canada and Mexico, after having imposed – a break – swept rates. The European Union seemed to be as follows in its hair. Trump was softer about Great Britain, suggesting to journalists that an agreement “could be concluded”, although he said that his trade balance with the United States was “far from the line”.
“I will not tell the president of his business with the business regarding trade,” said Mandelson in an interview, with a scrupulously diplomatic tone. But he insisted: “We have a balanced commercial relationship with the United States, it is balanced in goods; It is balanced in services. »»
For Mr. Mandelson, the trick will be to keep Great Britain out of Mr. Trump’s fire line – and do so at a time when the government on the left Keir Starmer tries to reset his relationship with the ‘EU, so that Mr. Trump has long been hostile.
Mr. Mandelson has already been denounced by a faction of Loyalists of Trump, who failed to scuttle his appointment but who may have played his decision to apologize to Fox News last week for having shot Mr. Trump in his first mandate as a “white nationalist” and a “danger to the world”.
Mr. Mandelson knows the ins and outs of commercial flows: he was a commissioner of the European Union from 2004 to 2008, then led the British trade until 2010. He said that he hoped that his experience Help him to assert a persuasive argument in the name of Great Britain, which manages either a trade surplus of $ 89 billion, or a deficit of $ 14.5 billion with the United States, depending on whether quotes British or American statistics. (The difference is partly based on the way the two parties treat offshore financial centers like Jersey and Guernsey, which are dependencies of the crown.)
“If I can use this knowledge to advance a mutual understanding, I will do it,” he said. However, he was quick to add: “I will not be at the top of the house to make arguments against the policies of the president. My work is to act behind the scenes to explain the policies of our countries. »»
A profile so low has meaning in Washington by Mr. Trump, given the story of the president of the effort with great personalities. But he is out of character for Mr. Mandelson. In a political career of four decades, he put himself several times under the spotlight. As a young strategist for the Labor Party, he was known for his ruthless tactics, winning the nickname of the Prince of Darkness. »»
Since then, Mr. Mandelson, 71.
Mr. Starmer’s decision to appoint Mr. Mandelson to a position as sensitive as the Ambassador to the United States surprised some in London, given the Prime Minister’s reputation for prudence and the reputation of Mr. Mandelson for Swagger and Sharp Elbows.
Some of these elbows were launched on Mr. Trump. In addition to his comments in a 2019 interview with an Italian journalist, Mr. Mandelson wrote a column in 2018 for a London Journal, the evening standard, in which he took Mr. Trump for imposing prices at the China. The president, he wrote, was a “Bully and a mercantilist.”
Mr. Mandelson said: “I completely hold the intellectual argument” on the negative effect of the prices. But he said he regretted his choice of words on Mr. Trump. He wrote the ignited atmosphere in Great Britain, which then negotiated its release from the European Union.
“In 2019, I was a little furious,” he said. “But nevertheless, the words I used about the president were childish and wrong.”
Mandelson is also under pressure because he replaces Karen Pierce, a popular envoy known for having built bridges to the people of Mr. Trump’s orbit. When his appointment was announced in December, Chris Lacivita, a republican strategist who commanded Mr. Trump’s campaign, published: “Replace a professional ambo respected universally with an absolute moron – he should stay at home!”
Among his other detractors were Stephen K. Bannon, the former chief strategist of Mr. Trump, and Raheem Kassam, the former editor -in -chief of Breitbart News in London. Mr. Bannon said he had opposed Mr. Mandelson’s commercial transactions in China, while Kassam said he was “Tony Blair’s most effective operator”, which he doesn’t did not mean as a compliment.
“Whether it is a rejection of his references, or to bring him back to the heel, is a victory,” said Kassam about the campaign against him.
However, Mr. Mandelson did not attract any public opposition from other powerful Trump allies, such as the billionaire of Elon Musk technology, or Bellician Republicans like Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He would hardly be the first person who once denied Trump to win forgiveness.
Mr. Mandelson underlined his links with Silicon Valley, which he visited as minister in 1998 to write a white paper on the competitiveness of Great Britain. He said that his experience in China, which has deepened during the years of management of a consulting company, Global Counsel, would help him feed British and American competition with China.
“Our main objective must be to win the race for advanced technologies,” he said. “We cannot win this race together, not divided.”
Mr. Mandelson’s defenders claim that his heavyweight skills and his cosmopolitan ways could call on Mr. Trump, who could recognize another player in him. Although they do not know each other, they moved to similar social circles. Mr. Mandelson seated in the House of Lords, the kind of sinécure that Mr. Trump could also appreciate.
“London hopes that the assistance of a political figure of the stature and intellect of Mandelson will be considered as a compliment, and his experience of commercial policy in Brussels not as an obstacle but as an asset,” said Peter Westmacott, ambassador during the Obama administration.
Kim Darroch, who was an ambassador during Mr. Trump’s first term, said: “I suspect that he took this post because he is addicted to the political game, and it is a way back on the field . He is implacally committed, tirelessly, curious about this, and exceptionally good in this area. »»
Mr. Darroch, however, offers a lesson in the dangers of diplomacy during a Trump presidency. He was forced to resign in 2019 after a London Journal published confidential cables in which he offered an underessive and unflattering interpretation of the president.
Mr. Mandelson will try to avoid these traps, in part by playing with Mr. Trump as a factor. He rejected the suggestions that Great Britain had to choose between the United States and Europe. Great Britain, he said, was simply trying to “put away” a defective trade agreement negotiated by the conservative predecessors of Mr. Starmer.
“What we want with the EU is complementary to the United States,” he said.
“We had a bad deal with the EU,” he added. “The president understands what a bad deal looks like.”
