New Zealand will replace Phil Goff as High Commissioner to the UK following comments he made regarding US President Donald Trump.

The comments are “deeply disappointing”, a spokesman for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in an emailed statement Thursday in Wellington. “They do not represent the views of the New Zealand government and make his position as High Commissioner to London untenable.”

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Local media reported that Goff made comments at an event in London earlier this week that questioned Trump’s understanding of history, contrasting him with Winston Churchill in the lead up to World War II.

“President Trump has restored the bust of Churchill to the Oval Office. But do you think he really understands history?” Goff reportedly said.

Former Labour prime minister Helen Clark said Goff’s question did not appear to her to be firing offense and suggested the New Zealand government is “super sensitive” to the Trump administration, according to posts on X.

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Goff took up the role of High Commissioner — which is an ambassadorship within Commonwealth countries — in January 2023. He spent 35 years as a Labour Party politician, including leading the party to an election loss in 2011. He was also the mayor of largest city Auckland for six years through 2022.

Peters has “asked the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade to now work through with Mr Goff the upcoming leadership transition at the New Zealand High Commission in London,” the spokesperson said.