Incoming UK ambassador walks back prior comments on Trump
Lord Peter Mandelson, the incoming UK ambassador to the US, has walked back prior comments he made suggesting that President Donald Trump was a ‘danger to the world’ in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, saying he was ‘ill-judged and wrong.’
London’s new ambassador to Washington, D.C., had an R-rated response to a reporter who asked about his former ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the suspected sex trafficker who died in jail in 2019.
Peter Mandelson, a Labour Party politician and member of the UK’s House of Lords, reportedly told an interviewer from the Financial Times to “f— off” after being questioned about his introduction to Epstein through Epstein’s former lover, convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
“I regret ever meeting him or being introduced to him by his partner Ghislaine Maxwell,” he told the outlet during a conversation aboard a high-speed train in the U.K.
“I regret even more the hurt he caused to many young women.”
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British politician and former Business Secretary Peter Mandelson participates in a debate on the EU at the Institute of Directors convention in London Oct. 6, 2015. (Reuters/Toby Melville)
The reporter questioned Epstein’s relationship with Mandelson, which was described in a 2019 internal document from JPMorgan that noted a “particularly close relationship” between Epstein, Prince Andrew and Mandelson, who was described as “a senior member of the British government.”
The missive became public after it was filed in federal court in New York years later.
When asked about the train encounter, a British embassy spokesperson reiterated the new ambassador’s regrets about Epstein and his behavior.
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“As Lord Mandelson has said in response to questions about Epstein, he regrets ever meeting him or being introduced to him,” the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “He regrets even more the hurt he caused to many young women.”
Andrew was named in a document dump last year as an associate of Epstein’s as part of a civil lawsuit from Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre, who accused the British royal of forcing her into sex at Maxwell’s London townhouse when she was underage. He has denied her allegations, but he paid her an undisclosed settlement in 2022 and has been relieved of his royal duties as part of the fallout over her claims.
A screenshot from court documents filed in June 2022 shows experts from an internal 2019 JPMorgan report on Jeffrey Epstein’s relationship with former Barclays CEO Jes Staley. The document mentions Epstein’s relationships with senior business and government leaders from around the world, including the new United Kingdom ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson. (Southern District of New York)
While Epstein died facing allegations he operated an international sex-trafficking ring, his accomplices and clients remain unknown outside of Maxwell, who was convicted in 2022 of recruiting, grooming and abusing underage girls for Epstein. He had the appearance of social relationships with a number of prominent figures, including U.S. presidents, billionaire businessmen, celebrities and leading academics.
Mandelson recently spoke with Fox News Digital and apologized for calling President Donald Trump a “danger to the world.”
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Jeffrey Epstein appears in court in West Palm Beach, Fla., July 30, 2008. (Uma Sanghvi/Palm Beach Post via AP, File)
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“I consider my remarks about President Trump as ill-judged and wrong,” the newly appointed ambassador said last week. “I think that times and attitudes toward the president have changed.”
He also penned a Fox News op-ed in which he acknowledged the will of U.S. voters must be respected abroad.
“Trump’s election-winning ‘America first’ vision foresees a strong America in the world that is respected and seeking peace through strength,” he wrote. “America’s allies need to hear the message the American people have sent and calibrate their partnerships in order to work with and alongside the U.S. to stand up for the joint interests that unite us.”
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Prince Andrew allegedly appears in this 2001 photograph with his arm around the waist of 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre. Ghislaine Maxwell is standing to the right. The royal has denied any memory of the encounter. (U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals)
Speaking with FT, Mandelson sought to distance himself from European leftists, expanding on the pro-business arguments in his op-ed.
“Some around Mr. Trump see me as they view many in Europe,” he told the outlet. “They see me as a left-wing progressive, somebody who might even be anti-business or somebody who might be following the sort of liberalism they’ve just defeated in America. What they will discover is I’m not an uber-liberal, I’m not a wokey-cokey sort of person, and I’m pro-market and pro-business.”
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Mandelson also listed adversarial China as a place where the U.S. and his country could find common ground in his interview with Fox News Digital.
“I think that the United States and Britain, working together, can outsmart and keep ahead of the curve as far as China is concerned,” the incoming ambassador said. “[Trump] wants a dialogue with China, he wants to do deals with China. But he’s also not going to be naive about China.
President Donald Trump speaks as he signs documents in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington Feb. 4, 2025. (Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo)
The Times of London reported last week that Andrew, brother of King Charles III, remained in touch with Epstein until at least 2011, two months after he previously claimed to have cut off ties, when he allegedly wrote, “Keep in close touch, and we’ll play some more soon!!!!”
Additional emails revealed in a London court show Mandelson’s alleged correspondence with the sex-trafficking financier continued into the summer of 2012.
He is also mentioned in an alleged conversation between Epstein and former Barclays CEO Jes Staley, who stepped down in 2021 over his ties to the disgraced financier.
“Peter Mandelson here at 5 — staying a couple of days,” an alleged email from Epstein to Staley says.
“If I get back in time, I will swing by,” the reply said..
Mandelson allegedly stayed on Epstein’s New York City property at least twice, in 2009 and 2012, according to the report.
Fox News’ Stephanie Nolasco contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/question-jeffrey-epstein-ties-prompts-alleged-foul-mouthed-response-new-uk-ambassador-us
