Top New Zealand diplomat fired for making controversial comments about Donald Trump
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, World News, New Zealand
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: Phil Walter/Getty Images / Carl Court - Pool/Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, World News, New Zealand
The most senior New Zealand diplomat in the UK has been fired after making some rather controversial comments about Donald Trump.
President Trump delivered his speech to Congress earlier this week, which followed a week of chaos for the 47th POTUS.
The Republican president accused President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy of 'gambling with World War 3', while Vice President JD Vance insisted that Zelenskyy was treating both Trump and the US with disrespect and persistently called on the Ukrainian to 'thank' the president.
"I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media…You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict," Vance added.
Advert
Trump also withdrew military aid for Ukraine earlier this week, a move that has been met with a fair bit of criticism across the world.
Phil Goff, who is now the former New Zealand high commissioner to the UK, outed his personal thoughts on this and Trump in general - something which has ultimately left him unemployed.
At an event hosted by Chatham House in London, Goff is said to have drew comparisons between the efforts to end the war between Russia and Ukraine to the 1938 Munich Agreement, namely Adolf Hitler taking possession of part of Czechoslovakia.
Addressing Finnish foreign minister Elina Valtonen, Goff said: "President Trump has restored the bust of Churchill to the Oval Office. But do you think he really understands history?"
Goff was referencing the bust-up between the US president and Zelenskyy last week.
The top diplomat said he had been reading a speech from way back in 1938, where Churchill slammed Neville Chamberlain, who was prime minister at the time, for signing the agreement with Hitler.
Valtonen didn't really seem keen to answer the question, saying she would even 'limit' her response when it came to speaking about Trump.
New Zealand foreign minister Winston Peters decided to sack Goff as a result of his public comments, citing he would have come to the same 'difficult' decision if Goff had made the comments about another country.
"When you’re in that position, you represent the views of the government and the policies of the day – you’re not able to free-think, you are the face of New Zealand," he told press on Thursday (March 6), as per Fox News.
"We have asked the secretary of foreign affairs and trade, Bede Corry, to now work through with Mr Goff the upcoming leadership transition at the New Zealand High Commission in London."
Peters' decision was allegedly done without first discussing it with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. However, Luxon later said the move was 'entirely appropriate'.