President Donald Trump on Tuesday called the British ambassador to the United States "a very stupid guy," one day after declaring he would cut contact with the diplomat following a leak of cables describing Trump as "inept".
"The wacky Ambassador that the U.K. foisted upon the United States is not someone we are thrilled with, a very stupid guy," Trump wrote in a series of tweets.
The US leader also doubled down in attacking British Prime Minister Theresa May regarding Brexit, saying she "went her own foolish way-was unable to get it done. A disaster!"
In the memos, Kim Darroch, who has served as Britain's envoy to Washington since 2016, suggested that in order to communicate with the president, "you need to make your points simple, even blunt".
In the leaked documents he called the Trump administration's policy toward Iran "incoherent," said the president might be indebted to "dodgy Russians" and raised doubts about whether the White House "will ever look competent".
An investigation is underway over the major breach of diplomatic security.
File photo dated 13/03/18 of Kim Darroch, the United Kingdom's ambassador to the United States Source: AAP
The tweets, together with a similar barrage on Monday, will serve to ratchet up pressure on Britain's government over Darroch, who also has been accused by some Brexit-backing UK politicians of lacking enthusiasm for Britain's departure from the European Union.
The journalist who reported the leak, Isabel Oakeshott, is a strong Brexit backer and an ally of Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, who also is Britain's leading champion of Trump.
Trump has been supportive of Farage and once said he would "do a great job" as an ambassador to Washington.
Farage sidestepped that notion Monday, saying "I'm not a diplomat".
While British officials hunted for the culprit behind the leak, senior Conservative Party figure and former Foreign Secretary William Hague said the government was right to back Darroch.
"You can't change an ambassador at the demand of a host country," Hague told the BBC.
"It is their job to give an honest assessment of what is happening in that country."
Additional reporting: AAP
