White House concerned over Miliband as Foreign Secretary

The White House is concerned about Andy Burnham’s decision to appoint Ed Miliband as Foreign Secretary, The Telegraph can reveal.

Mr Miliband – who had been tipped to be the next chancellor – was given the role on Monday as Mr Burnham made sweeping changes to his Cabinet.

Following the announcement, Mr Miliband promised to deepen ties with the EU before speaking about Britain’s “essential alliance with the United States”.

Donald Trump’s team had previously warned that they would find it difficult to work with him.

A senior Trump administration official told The Telegraph that Mr Miliband would be a “point of friction” in the transatlantic relationship because of his support for green energy projects that Mr Trump had criticised.

It is understood that the US government’s warning came in unofficial “access” talks between the Trump administration and Mr Burnham’s team after it became clear that he was the front-runner to replace Sir Keir Starmer.

Mr Miliband’s previous positions have sometimes been in stark contrast to those of the White House.

In February, he led the opposition on the National Security Council to the use of UK bases for US bombers. The decision proved to be the downfall of Sir Keir’s relationship with the president, who described him as “not Winston Churchill”.

The opposition convinced Sir Keir to deny a US request to use Diego Garcia, the strategically important military base in the Chagos Islands, at the beginning of America and Israel’s war on Iran.

Mr Miliband’s reluctance to drill in the North Sea, a topic close to the president’s heart, has also been criticised.

As energy secretary, he blocked new licences to drill for oil and gas in the North Sea, and in 2023 he criticised Rishi Sunak for rolling back climate targets, saying: “A Trump-style climate culture war is not what the British people want.”

Mr Miliband could also face a backlash over his historical comments about Mr Trump. In 2016, he wrote: “We must do our best at home and abroad to resist the worst of Trumpism… These are dark days for America and the world. There can be little solace right now.”

Later, he told the BBC’s World At One: “The idea that we have shared values with a racist, misogynistic self-confessed groper beggars belief.”

In 2017, he said Mr Trump had “lowered the bar for idiocy” and later joined a Stop Trump March in London.

Steve Bannon, a close ally of the president and his former chief strategist, told The Telegraph: “The Trump administration took the extraordinary step of warning the new Prime Minister that the United States would view the appointment of ‘red diaper’ baby and self-described socialist Ed Miliband as very injurious to the ‘special relationship’.

“Burnham could not care less – he appointed this twit anyway.”

Government sources told The Telegraph that there were concerns that Mr Miliband could become a media liability because of his previous comments about Mr Trump.

David Lammy, who was Sir Keir’s first choice for the Foreign Office after the 2024 election, was rarely selected by the Government for broadcast interviews after he was asked repeatedly about his historical comments about Mr Trump.

However, Mr Lammy maintained a strong relationship with the Trump administration through his friendship with JD Vance, the vice-president.

It is not thought that Mr Miliband, who previously built a working relationship with John Kerry, the former Democratic senator, has high-ranking connections within Republican politics.

In his first statement as Foreign Secretary, he pledged to fight for “Britain’s interests and our values of democracy, freedom and the rule of law on the world stage”.

He added: “I will seek to deepen and strengthen our strategic alliance with the European Union, which is so important for our prosperity and security and at the same time nurture our strong, enduring and essential alliance with the United States.”

[Source: Daily Telegraph]