Obama’s four-letter outburst on hearing Brexit decision

Former US President Barack Obama’s dismayed private reaction to Britain’s decision to leave the EU has been revealed for the first time.

According to Lord Kim Darroch, the former British ambassador to the United States, Obama thought Britain was “faking” itself.

It says in Sir Anthony Seldon’s book, Brexit EffectSerialized in the Independent, senior figures in the Obama government are “horrified” by Brexit, says Lord Darroch, the UK envoy in Washington, where the EU referendum was held in 2016.

Serialization is part of a new campaign Independent on how Britain could rebuild its broken ties with Europe. The Europe: Road to Return campaign will feature news, analysis, interviews and live events examining the impact of Brexit and what our relationship with Europe should look like.

Lord Darroch recalls the colorful statement made by a member of Obama’s inner circle when asked about the President’s view two days after the referendum.

Lord Darroch writes: “He (Obama) thinks you have completely destroyed yourselves.” This was in Washington DC in June 2016, a few days after the Leave victory, at lunch with a member of Barack Obama’s inner circle and in Obama’s response to my question about how he viewed the outcome.

“My guest continued: ‘We don’t understand why you’re calling for a referendum that you don’t need to hold unless you’re absolutely sure you’ll get the right answer. So what happens now that you’ve blown yourself up?'”

Weeks before the Brexit vote, Obama caused controversy when he said that if the UK left the EU, the UK would be “at the back of the queue” in trade talks with the US. This was seen as a clumsy attempt to help Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron win the inevitable battle to keep Britain in the EU.

Lord Darroch describes Brexit as a “terrible act of self-harm” that leaves Britain “diminished and isolated”.

He said many high-profile American figures felt the same way during the vote. “I noticed people looking at me with an almost horrified expression: ‘What did you do?’

“A friend of mine at the Foreign Office said ‘some of us are wondering what it means for the UK to leave the EU’.”

Lord Darroch says America’s general view on Brexit is that “the Keystone Cops are running the show”.

“I and my colleagues at the embassy were asked the question a dozen times a day: ‘What’s going on there?’

”A senior official at the State Department told me in a puzzled tone and with a look of pity in his eyes: ‘We are used to the collapse of governments and chaos in some of your European neighbors, but we thought you were the sensible one.’

“The centuries-old reputation for a stable government and an orderly parliament, all governed in accordance with ancient traditions, has been lost.”

In reality, Brexit had left the UK “both diminished and isolated”.

There was a risk of having to “metaphorically kneel before the US and the EU” by pleading for a better tariff deal.

“The most horribly self-destructive aspect of our Brexit deal is that, despite our history as one of the world’s great free trade countries… we have erected a hard border with the EU.”

In a mockery seemingly aimed at Donald Trump, Lord Darroch argues that Britain must take action on free trade and climate action because “none of it will be coming from America for the next few years”.

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