Lord Mandelson, best known for his role as a drinking adviser to former Prime Minister Tony Blair, has arrived in Washington DC to take up his post as British ambassador to the US.
According to foreign media, he will start work on Monday, with the government hoping to build bridges with the Trump administration and exempt British goods from the global tariffs that the new president has threatened to impose.
Mandelson, who earned the nickname Prince of Darkness while serving as a minister in Blair's government, has faced a complicated journey to his appointment, with the Trump administration initially reported to have considered withholding approval.
He has distanced himself from previous comments he made about the president, including that Trump was a "danger to the world" and that he was "a white nationalist and a racist."
Mandelson said his past comments were "childish and wrong." "In 2019, I was a little angry," Mandelson said, according to A2 CNN.
He praised Trump in an interview with Fox News as a "nice" and "right-minded" person who could become "one of the most important American presidents I've known in my lifetime." (A2 Televizion)
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