‘This is like something out of The Thick of It’: Peter Mandelson ‘went tonto’ as he moaned about Downing Street’s frantic scramble to get Donald Trump his own ministerial ‘red box’
Newly released emails have shown Peter Mandelson ‘pompous’ as he raged over Downing Street’s chaotic efforts to provide a ministerial ‘red box’ for Donald Trump.
The release of the latest part of Government files on Lord Mandelson’s spell as US ambassador has revealed No10 went madly to arrange the gift.
Trump is said to have wanted a ‘red shipping box with gold crest and lettering’ that would mimic the official boxes carried by ministers in the UK, according to emails.
It was seen that Whitehall officials made great efforts to receive the gift before the US President’s state visit to the UK in September last year.
Documents released on Monday also showed how Lord Mandelson intervened in an apparent complaint about the time taken to secure the gift.
In a late August 2025 email to Keir Starmer’s then chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, the disgraced colleague compared the situation to TV’s The Thick of It.
He added that the Prime Minister had “overstated this matter greatly” in his heavily redacted message to his senior aide.
His disgraced colleague resigned just days before Mr Trump’s visit to the UK in September 2025, following new revelations about his links to Jeffrey Epstein.
Newly released emails show Peter Mandelson was ‘pompous’ as he raged over Downing Street’s faltering efforts to provide a ministerial ‘red box’ for Donald Trump
Trump reportedly wanted a ‘red shipping box with gold crest and lettering’ to mimic official boxes carried by UK ministers, emails show
Lord Mandelson compared the situation to TV’s The Thick of It in an email to Keir Starmer’s then chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, in late August 2025.
The final section of the Mandelson files also included a series of messages between Foreign Office and Downing Street officials discussing the red box.
It emerged that Lord Mandelson, in the final weeks of his tenure as US ambassador, emailed Mr McSweeney about the gift Mr Trump had proposed on August 26 that year.
He wrote: ‘The saga continues. Check out the Olly email. This is like something out of Kalin.
‘We are currently faced with the red box presented to us’ [redacted] after [redacted] with [redacted]. ‘I worked hard on this.’
In an earlier email dated August 15, 2025, Lord Mandelson told Mr McSweeney that a red box with Mr Trump’s name and password inside was ‘suitable for this purpose’ as a gift.
The final part of the Mandelson files also contained a series of messages between Foreign Office and Downing Street officials discussing the red box.
Olly Robbins, then the most senior civil servant in the Foreign Office, wrote on 26 August 2025: ‘As you know, it is clear that one of the most meaningful gifts for the President will be a red post box with a gold coat of arms and letters, imitating the UK Government Departmental box, but with the words ‘President of the United States’ on it.’
In the letter dated July 10, 2025, written between the ministry boxes manufacturer Barrow, Hepburn and Gale and the private office of Chancellor Rachel Reeves, it was revealed that the red box request came from ‘influential people close to President Trump’.
It also showed that discussions about the possible gift began in February of that year, shortly after Mr. Trump began his second term in the White House.
The letter, dated July 2025, shared concerns that ‘a sideline presentation by anyone other than the Prime Minister or monarch during a state visit would be potentially embarrassing for both the country and the Prime Minister’s office’.
He added: ‘For the sake of clarity I must make a distinction between the office itself and the individual personality because for many years we have carefully avoided appearing to endorse anyone.’
The manufacturer also revealed that producing a special box for Mr Trump had ‘already been designed and approved’ and that production would take ‘8-10 weeks’.
Emails from August 2025 revealed confusion among staff at the British Embassy in Washington DC over whether the box had been produced.
The Treasury was accused of ‘sitting’ on this issue ‘since February’.
In a message to Mr McSweeney on 27 August 2025, Lord Mandelson wrote: ‘The attachment states that Whitehall is aware of this matter. [redacted] It’s been confirmed since February and early July and no one had the intelligence to say anything. What incompetence.’
On 28 August No10 officials discussed trying to source the red box from a ‘different supplier’ as a last resort to secure the gift.
