What is in the inbox of the new UK ambassador to the US?

From Huawei to a US trade deal, Karen Pierce has her work cut out, writes John Rentoul

Pierce will have a lengthy not-to-do list (AP)

The first female UK ambassador to Washington, Dame Karen Pierce, has a daunting list of problems to resolve when she takes up her post in the 1970s brick warehouse that is the British embassy on Massachusetts Ave.

First, she has to avoid annoying a short-tempered president, who described her predecessor, Sir Kim Darroch, as a “very stupid guy”. Admittedly, his emails, calling Trump’s administration “clumsy and inept”, had just been leaked.

So top of Pierce’s not-to-do list is: do not write anything down. Do not be tempted to compose those entertainingly perceptive and beautifully written honest appraisals of your host country that so impress politicians and fellow fast-streamers back home.