In his first television interview since being sacked as UK ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson has described Donald Trump as having 'humour', 'graciousness' and 'directness'. Speaking to the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, the former Labour minister said he liked the former US president, though he did not approve of all of Trump's language.
Mandelson said: 'I liked his humour, his graciousness... I liked his directness. You knew exactly what he was thinking and where you stood and what he wanted.' He added that Trump was 'an extraordinary risk taker' but that such qualities were important in a world full of conflict and danger.
During the wide-ranging interview, Mandelson also addressed his friendship with the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He described the association as a 'terrible mistake' but declined to apologise directly to Epstein's victims. 'I was not culpable,' he said, while acknowledging a 'misplaced loyalty' that led him to continue supporting Epstein after his 2008 conviction.
'I believed his excuses. It was a most terrible mistake on my part,' Mandelson said, calling Epstein an 'evil monster'. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander criticised Mandelson's stance, saying an apology would have gone 'a long way' and accusing him of 'deep naivety'.
