New Zealand has dismissed its ambassador to the United Kingdom after the diplomat publicly questioned US President Donald Trump’s understanding of the historical events leading to World War II.
The office of New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced Thursday that High Commissioner Phil Goff’s position had become “untenable” following his remarks during a panel discussion in London. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed ongoing discussions with Goff regarding his return home but declined to comment further.
During a Chatham House event on Wednesday featuring Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen, Goff compared Trump’s efforts to end the Ukraine war to the 1938 Munich Agreement, which permitted Nazi Germany to annex parts of Czechoslovakia.
“I was re-reading Churchill’s speech to the House of Commons in 1938 after the Munich Agreement, and he turned to Chamberlain, he said, ‘You had the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour, yet you will have war,’” Goff said, referencing former UK Prime Ministers Winston Churchill and Neville Chamberlain.
“President Trump has restored the bust of Churchill to the Oval Office. But do you think he really understands history?”
Valtonen declined to respond directly, instead noting that Churchill had made many “timeless remarks.”
Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark criticized Goff’s dismissal on X, calling the justification a “very thin excuse.” Clark, who served as prime minister from 1999 to 2008, said she had heard similar comparisons at the recent Munich Security Conference in Germany.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Peters described the decision as necessary but “seriously disappointing.”
“We cannot have people making comments which impinge upon our very future – no matter what the country is, whether it’s Niue, Samoa, Tonga, Japan or, dare I say it, the United States,” Peters said. “When you are in that position – you represent the government and the policies of the day. You’re not able to free-think. You are the face of New Zealand.”
Goff, who did not respond to requests for comment, previously served in several ministerial roles, including foreign affairs, and completed two terms as Auckland’s mayor before his 2023 diplomatic appointment.
