New British ambassador dishes on Trump’s ‘genius,’ post-Mandelson vetting and Chagos tensions

Just hours after former U.K. ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson was arrested in London on Monday on suspicion of leaking government secrets to Jeffrey Epstein, his successor was feted at a welcoming party in Washington, D.C.

For Christian Turner, the shadow and scandal surrounding Mandelson is inescapable. But the incoming British ambassador to the U.S. has little to say about it. 

Asked about Mandelson during an interview with The Hill a few days before his predecessor’s arrest, Turner reads out previous statements from the U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the fiasco.

Turner, a career diplomat, says he’s in Washington to “get stuff done.” 

“I’m not one of those people who’s always been ambitious for the amazing house and the flummery and the sort of prestige of the job of ambassador,” he said to The Hill from the Edwin Lutyens designed mansion on Massachusetts Avenue in D.C.

“We’re here to make a difference and to not manage problems, but solve them.”

He also emphasizes that because of his previous security work — as the lead negotiator for the Foreign Office, where he says his job was “basically focused on Gaza, Ukraine and Iran” — he is “vetted to within an inch of my life.”

“There is nothing that is not out there or exposed,” he adds. “That’s what is required to have the security clearances that I do.”

Turner’s appointment was unexpected. Just a year ago, Mandelson was being introduced to D.C.’s movers and shakers at the same British Ambassador’s residence with a party in the presence of Starmer, who waxed eloquently about his choice of envoy. 

Fast forward a year, and Starmer is fighting for his own job amid Mandelson’s spectacular fall from grace. 

The ongoing Mandelson controversy, however, isn’t dimming Turner’s excitement for the job in D.C. His appointment as ambassador is something of a homecoming for the envoy, who served as First Secretary at the U.K. embassy at the start of his career nearly three decades ago. 

“I know this town well. Both my children were born here. I was newly married as a young man here, so it’s a very, very happy place for me to return to. It’s also really the political capital of the world. So in our business, why would you not want to be here and enjoying that and in the middle of it, in such an important relationship?”

The start of Turner’s tenure as the U.K’s new man in Washington comes at a tricky time for the British government. 

As the interview was underway, President Trump took to Truth Social to criticize Starmer’s plan to cede the strategically vital Chagos Islands to Mauritius, with a lease to maintain the U.K. military presence there.  

Trump warned Starmer not to “give away Diego Garcia” and said “this land should not be taken away from the U.K.,” adding that doing so would be “a blight on our Great Ally”, The post was shared widely by political rivals of Starmer, who have long opposed the deal. 

Just days before, however, the U.S. State Department had officially endorsed the deal, saying it “supports the decision” of the U.K. to move forward with Mauritius. 

When asked about Trump’s apparent U-turn on the Chagos deal, Turner responds diplomatically, saying, “you wouldn’t expect me as ambassador to come and be criticizing the president.” 

So how will he deal with a president who often shifts his stances from one day to the next? 

“One wants to operate on a basis of no surprises, and to have to be able to have that trusting conversation in a space where you can understand each other, resolve the differences,” he says. 

Trump’s “genius,”  he adds, “is his political communication”. 

This is not Turner’s first time dealing with Trump. The incoming ambassador cited the relationships he formed with the president’s team during his first administration, when he was deputy national security adviser under Prime Minister Theresa May.

Turner said his experience organizing Trump’s state visit to the U.K. in 2018, and a subsequent visit in 2019 gave him plenty of access and insight to the president and his inner circle. 

“I saw him and the team around him then very up close,” Turner said. The Chagos dispute one of several challenges on Turner’s plate. A highly anticipated trade deal between the U.S. and U.K. announced last year remains in limbo.

The Supreme Court has since upended Trump’s economic agenda, striking down the majority of his tariffs and leaving a wave of uncertainty for countries that quickly negotiated deals when the tariffs were first announced, including the U.K. 

“​​We’ll of course be working closely with the U.S. government to understand the impact for the U.K.. Because of our May 8 deal and the balanced trading relationship we have had with the U.S. for a very long time, the U.K. already secured the lowest reciprocal tariffs globally before this Supreme Court ruling,” Turner says. 

He adds that “generally the U.K. supports lower tariffs and we will continue to support U.K. businesses as further details are announced. But under any scenario we expect our privileged trading position with the U.S. to continue.” 

Trump has since warned any country that tries to “play games” with the U.S. on trade after the Supreme Court decision will face “a much higher tariff” than their current agreement. 

Downing Street has insisted “nothing is off the table” when it comes to the U.K.’s response to Trump’s threats of increased global tariffs in light of the ruling.

In the short term, Turner’s priority is bringing trade barriers down for the benefit of both countries. 

Already, the U.K. is the largest foreign investor in more than 20 U.S. states with U.K.-U.S. trade estimated at $430 billion last year. 

“That means that U.K. investment is creating and sustaining American jobs. And we see the same in reverse with U.S. investment into the U.K. delivering growth. So, any way we can find to reduce those barriers we see as a benefit to us both,” he says. 

At his official welcome party Monday, Turner’s new gig was celebrated in the company of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, and Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby. 

At one point, the ambassador held up a red “Make America Great Again” hat he says Trump handed him when they met in the Oval Office.

“Someone once defined a diplomat as ‘someone who tells you how to go to hell in such a way as you want to ask for directions,’” he told the crowd. “I will try and live up to that, but in the family-friendly version of the expression, I’m also here to ‘get stuff done.’”