Lord Peter Mandelson will be the next British ambassador to the United States after Donald Trump agreed to accept his credentials.
The long-awaited decision ends a weeks-long standoff with the new US administration over the Labour grandee’s appointment to replace Dame Karen Pierce as the UK’s top diplomat in Washington.
A White House official has confirmed to The Independent that President Trump has finally agreed to accept Lord Mandelson’s letters of credence when he arrives in the American capital next month, allowing him to take up residence in Washington DC.
The end of the uncertainty over his appointment comes as the new US secretary of state Marco Rubio issued a veiled warning to foreign secretary David Lammy over the attempts to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, as tensions between the UK government and US administration continue.
It also comes amid reports that US senators have handed a file to the FBI to investigate the Labour peer’s links to China, the primary reason that Mr Trump was said to be considering rejecting his nomination.
The Independent revealed last week that the extremely rare move had been considered by Mr Trump and that a decision was set to be made by the US president this week after papers were forwarded from the State Department.
While Lord Mandelson is being allowed to take up his post – removing a major diplomatic headache for Sir Keir Starmer – it is understood that it will still come with conditions and the peer “will be kept on a short leash” because of his past links with China.
Even as news broke of the decision there were questions about what Mr Trump had extracted in return for having allowed his close allies to brief against and attack Lord Mandelson over a number of weeks, even having him described as a “moron”.
It is understood that the president craves hosting a visit by senior royals to America, possibly the King or Prince and Princess of Wales. It is also known he wants to address a joint sitting of the Houses of Parliament after senior Labour figures helped ensure he was not able to in 2016.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s new chief diplomat has issued a warning to Mr Lammy over his attempts to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in a sign that the new White House administration will seek to block the move.
The shot across the bows came during secretary of state Marco Rubio’s first phone call with the foreign secretary.
While Sir Keir Starmer and Mr Trump avoided difficult topics, including Lord Mandelson, when they spoke on Sunday, Mr Rubio referenced the controversial Chagos Islands deal.
President Joe Biden had supported a handover to Mauritius but the Trump administration is concerned about the joint UK/US airbase on Diego Garcia and the potential for China to move in and establish a presence on the islands.
Mauritius was the first African country to sign a trade deal with China and the issue was raised by Mr Rubio during the call with Mr Lammy: he warned the foreign secretary to beware of Beijing’s “malign influence”.
Mr Rubio, who has previously criticised the proposed deal, stressed the need for a “free and open Indo-Pacific that is secure and stable”, according to a readout of the conversation. While Chagos does not appear to be mentioned by name the reference was a clear sign of the administration’s position on the deal with Mauritius.
Before his nomination, the former Florida senator said the Chagos deal would be “concerning as it would provide an opportunity for communist China to gain valuable intelligence on our naval support facility in Mauritius”.
He told Politico: “This poses a serious threat to our national security interests in the Indian Ocean and threatens critical US military posture in the region.”
Last year, The Independent revealed that the Trump transition team was looking at ways of vetoing the deal, which was held up by a change of government in Mauritius and a new prime minister who demanded more concessions from the UK.
Mr Lammy has always described the Chagos agreement as “a good deal”, arguing it ends uncertainty over the Diego Garcia base and guarantees it for at least 99 years.
But the government has refused to publish details of the proposed deal, including the estimated cost to the UK taxpayer.
