'Well, this is awkward!' World leaders rush to backtrack on past comments trashing Trump

Some international leaders are facing an "awkward" situation after comments made in the past four years criticizing Donald Trump, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

After he won the 2024 election, officials in Britain and Australia are backtracking from comments made in the past that trashed Trump. And many other leaders who have not publicly been fans are now sending diplomatic congratulatory messages, the report stated.

One even deleted his previous critical remarks.

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The Post recalled a 2018 op-ed by Labour Party politician David Lammy wrote of Trump that he is “a woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathizing sociopath” and a “profound threat to the international order.” In 2019, Lammy went further, calling Trump “deluded, dishonest, xenophobic, narcissistic." Trump, he said said he was “no friend of Britain.”

Lammy, who is now Britain's foreign secretary, tweeted his congratulations after Tuesday's election.

British tabloids noticed. “Well, this is awkward!” said the front page of The Daily Star.

He's just one of several leaders, particularly in Europe, who have had complicated relationships with Trump.

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In Australia, previous prime minister and current ambassador to the United States, Kevin Rudd, deleted comments made in 2020 that called Trump the “most destructive president in history” and a “traitor to the West,” according to the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

On Thursday, Rudd issued a statement in which he said those comments did not reflect the view of the Australian government, and that they had been deleted.

“Out of respect for the office of President of the United States, and following the election of President Trump, Ambassador Rudd has now removed these past commentaries from his personal website and social media channels,” the statement said,.

The statement said it intended to “eliminate the possibility of such comments being misconstrued.”

Read the full repot here.