Donald Trump has hit back at a series of leaked government memos, reportedly authored by Britain's ambassador to the US, which describe the US President as "inept", "insecure" and "incompetent".
Confronted with the scathing comments, which were first published by the UK's Mail on Sunday newspaper, Mr Trump told reporters on Monday that ambassador Kim Darroch "did not serve the UK well".
"We are not big fans of that man and he has not served the UK well so I can understand and I can say things about him but I won't bother," he told reporters as he departed Morristown in New Jersey.
In an article published on Sunday, the Mail on Sunday claimed to have seen memos and briefing notes spanning 2017 to present sent from Mr Darroch to Downing Street that described the Trump administration as "dysfunctional" and referred to "knife fights" within the White House.
British ambassador Kim Darroch has reportedly described the White House environment as "uniquely dysfunctional". Source: AAP
"We don't really believe this Administration is going to become substantially more normal; less dysfunctional; less unpredictable; less faction-riven; less diplomatically clumsy and inept," one of the memos reportedly read.
Another compared the President to Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Terminator in reference to his alleged ability to survive controversy.
A spokesperson for Britain's foreign office said a formal investigation would be launched into the leak.
"The British public would expect our ambassadors to provide ministers with an honest, unvarnished assessment of the politics in their country. Their views are not necessarily the views of ministers or indeed the Government," the spokesperson said.
"But we pay them to be candid. Just as the US ambassador here will send back his reading of Westminster politics and personalities."
The explosive statements have been revealed just weeks after Mr Trump's state visit to the UK, during which he attended a state banquet hosted by the Queen.
Following the visit, Mr Darroch warned that although the President had been "dazzled" by the pomp and ceremony of the trip, his administration would remain self-interested and "this is still the land of America First".
Another memo reportedly claims that to communicate with the US President "you need to make your points simple, even blunt".
