Ed Miliband's appointment as foreign secretary under new prime minister Andy Burnham has reportedly angered the White House, which is said to be "deeply concerned" about the choice given his long history of criticising Donald Trump. Readers of The Independent responded to the row largely by dismissing it as an overreach by Trump, arguing that a US president has no business influencing who sits in a British cabinet.

Miliband and Trump have clashed for around a decade, chiefly over net zero and Russia policy, with Miliband previously branding Trump a "racist, misogynistic, self-confessed groper" and accusing him of having "lowered the bar for idiocy". Burnham has reportedly been warned that Trump "will not forget" these remarks and that serious diplomatic repair work lies ahead. While most reader comments backed standing firm against perceived American interference and questioned the value of the "special relationship", a minority cautioned that provoking a sitting US president is risky for a UK that, outside the EU, depends heavily on its alliance with Washington.