Phil Goff, New Zealand’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, was dismissed after making critical remarks about U.S. President Donald Trump during a public event in London on Tuesday night.
At the event, hosted by London’s Chatham House, Goff asked Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen a question referencing Winston Churchill’s 1938 speech to the House of Commons after the Munich Agreement. In that speech, Churchill told Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain that he had chosen dishonor over war.
Goff asked Valtonen during the live-streamed event, “President Trump has restored the bust of Churchill to the Oval Office. But do you think he really understands history?”
New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters called Goff’s comments “deeply regrettable” and stated that action would have been taken if the remarks had been made about any other leader. He added that Goff’s comments were “deeply disappointing” and made his position as high commissioner “untenable.”
Peters emphasized that those in diplomatic positions represent the government and its policies, and as such, they cannot express personal opinions in such settings.
Goff, who served as the leader of New Zealand’s Labour Party and its former foreign minister, was appointed as high commissioner in 2022.
