Trump 'wishes Sir Kim Darroch well' after suggesting UK ambassador never actually criticised him

Donald Trump has said he wishes Britain’s outgoing ambassador to Washington Sir Kim Darroch well following his resignation over his leaked diplomatic cables.

Sir Kim stepped down on Wednesday saying his position as UK envoy to the US had become “impossible” after Mr Trump branded him a “very stupid guy” and a “pompous fool”.

The US president claimed on Friday that he had been told Sir Kim had actually said “very good things” about him, and suggested the ambassador was “sort of referring to other people” when making negative remarks about the White House.

He warned, however, that the British needed to stop their “leaking problems” following the transatlantic war of words in recent days.

“I wish the British ambassador well, but they have got to stop their leaking problems there just like they have to stop them in our country,” he told reporters in Washington.

Mr Trump made clear earlier this week that he had been enraged by Sir Kim’s leaked dispatches branding his administration as “inept” and “dysfunctional”.

But on Friday, following the resignation, the president had changed his tone. “I guess I quoted [Republican Senator] Lindsey Graham today. He said some things that were pretty nice from the British ambassador.”

Conservative leadership candidate Boris Johnson has come under fire from a number of his party’s MPs, who accuse him of betraying the UK’s ambassador in the transatlantic spat.

Some Tories said Mr Johnson had thrown Sir Kim “under the bus” when he failed to give the ambassador his support in a TV debate after Mr Trump launched a war of words against the envoy.

Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt – Mr Johnson’s rival to be the next prime minister – urged British diplomats to keep speaking “without fear or favour” following the fiasco.

“Please keep speaking up without fear or favour, remembering that the UK government alone will determine appointments based on our national interest alone,” Mr Hunt said in a message to staff at the Foreign Office.

“I want you to know that you will always get all the support you need to carry out your vital work.”

Liz Truss, chief secretary to the Treasury, was among the senior Tories warning outgoing PM Theresa May that appointing the next envoy to Washington was a job for her successor.

A Whitehall inquiry is underway into who leaked the memos and why.