London
—
When US President Donald Trump arrives at Windsor Castle for his unprecedented second state visit to the United Kingdom on Wednesday, there will be one notable absentee.
As Trump is greeted by King Charles and Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the diplomat who had a big hand in much of the preparation work could have been expected to be hovering in the background. But that official, the British ambassador to Washington, was fired last week over his links to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The dismissal of Peter Mandelson – a polarizing figure on the left of British politics for years – threatens to cast a long shadow over the week’s events, making a delicate summit even more difficult for the beleaguered Starmer. What had been billed as a chance for the struggling Labour government to deepen its ties with the US now risks being derailed by questions over Starmer’s judgment in appointing Mandelson – and Trump’s own ties to Epstein.
