Maggie's Farm

As one more than a little familiar with the odd Canadian Foreign Affairs, er, Global Affairs diptel in my time, I can tell you that ambassadors do have an annoyingly bad habit of conflating their personal opinion with professional assessment.

Of course an ambassador isn’t there to flatter the host country, but neither is he or she there to disparage it as an end in itself. Reporting should involve a dispassionate account of what’s going on, and its possible implications for your own country’s national interests. Not liking Donald Trump or his administration is not sufficient grounds for advising your own government on the US.

In an age when Wikileaks could publish your little UK Eyes Only or NOFORN rant in a flash, it’s probably a good idea to tighten up the text and ditch the ad hominems and pet peeves.

As for President Trump’s response, that should simply be ignored; it’s strictly fodder for US public consumption. I seriously doubt the gang over at Foggy Bottom are any more competent or objective in their reporting than the anointed ones of the FCO (or, for that matter, the diplomatic class of any country).