President Trump offered a bit of support on social media Monday for embattled British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has faced calls to resign over his appointment of a friend of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as ambassador to the US.
Starmer insisted to lawmakers in the House of Commons earlier Monday that had he known Epstein pal Peter Mandelson failed security checks conducted by the UK’s Foreign Office he would’ve withdrawn his choice for the key diplomatic post, while admitting that he erred in his judgment.
“Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom acknowledged that he ‘exercised wrong judgement’ when he chose his Ambassador to Washington,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I agree, he was a really bad pick.”
“Plenty of time to recover, however!” the president added.
Starmer fired Mandelson last September after new details emerged about his close friendship with Epstein, including a June 2008 email to the disgraced financier where he told his buddy, “I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened.”
The email was sent after Epstein copped a plea deal in Florida for soliciting sex from a minor.
Despite axing Mandelson, Starmer has been receiving heat from Members of Parliament over his alleged knowledge of the Labor Party figure’s links to Epstein.
Two MPs were thrown out of the chamber Monday during a fiery meeting with Starmer for accusing him of lying, which is against House of Commons rules.
“That man couldn’t lie straight in bed,” Lee Anderson, a member of the Reform Party, quipped, according to CBS News.
“Let’s call this out for what it is; the Prime Minister is a bare-faced liar, and if he had any decency left, he would resign,” Zarah Sultana, a member of the Your Party, raged.
Starmer has laid blame squarely on Foreign Office officials for not flagging Mandelson’s ties to Epstein, calling it “frankly staggering” that he was purportedly left in the dark.
The prime minister fired Olly Robbins, who was the Foreign Office’s most senior civil servant at the time of Mandelson’s appointment and vetting, last week.
Mandelson, who has denied being complicit in alleged sex crimes committed by Epstein, was arrested by police in London in February after emails released by the Justice Department showed he shared confidential government information with the convicted sex offender.
Trump’s defense of Starmer amid the scandal comes as the president has repeatedly slammed the prime minister for denying the US military use of British bases to launch attacks against Iran, and for failing to send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
The president told The Post last month Starmer’s response to the Iran war was “very disappointing,” amid reports that he has privately referred to the Brit as a “loser.”
“Well, he’s not Winston Churchill, let me put it that way,” Trump said.
