New Zealand's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Phil Goff, has been sacked for questioning US President Donald Trump's grasp of history.
Mr Goff, foreign and defence minister in Helen Clark's government, will leave the role under orders from Foreign Minister Winston Peters.
On Tuesday, the 71-year-old appeared at an event in London with Finland's Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen, framing a question with a thinly-veiled attack on Mr Trump.
"President Trump has restored the bust of Churchill to the Oval Office. But do you think he really understands history?" he asked.
Made aware of the comments by Wellington newspaper The Post, Mr Peters' office said the "deeply disappointing" comments made his position "untenable" as they did not represent the views of the New Zealand government.
"It is seriously regrettable," Mr Peters said, "and a seriously disappointing decision one has to make."
"If he'd have made that comment about Germany, France, Tonga or Samoa then I would have been forced to act.
"It's not the way you behave as the front face of the country, diplomatically."
Mr Peters, who said he was yet to speak with Mr Goff on the matter, has asked his department secretary to prepare a leadership transition.
Mr Goff has not commented on the matter.
On social media, Ms Clark said it was a "a very thin excuse for sacking a highly respected former #NZ Foreign Minister from his post".
However, the move shows the reticence from some foreign governments to criticise the returned US president, even as Mr Trump contorts the most commonly understood realities.
Mr Trump has called Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy a dictator who started the war with Russia despite all evidence to the contrary, and has launched a series of verbal attacks on US allies.
This week, Prime Minister Chris Luxon said he trusted Mr Trump, but would directly challenge the imposition of any tariffs thrust upon New Zealand.
Mr Goff, also a former Labour leader and Auckland mayor, was appointed to the plum diplomatic post by Jacinda Ardern's government in 2022.
His tenure was called into question around the time of King Charles' coronation in 2023, when he disrespected Maoridom by telling an official function that nobody had experienced a coronation before.
Mr Goff apologised after he was informed that for Tuhetia, the Maori King, who was present, it was his third coronation.
Mr Peters said that blunder was "a terrible mistake" but his sacking was solely down to his Trump comment.
"When you are in that position, you represent the government and the policies of the day. You're not able to freethink," he said.
