SYDNEY, March 6 -- New Zealand's foreign minister Winston Peters said yesterday he had sacked the country's ambassador to the United Kingdom, after he made comments seen as critical of United States President Donald Trump.

Phil Goff made the comments at a forum in London on Tuesday that appeared to question Trump's grasp of history, contrasting the president's attempts to thaw relations with Russia with the actions of Britain's wartime leader Winston Churchill, who fought against Nazi Germany.

"President Trump has restored the bust of Churchill to the Oval Office. But do you think he really understands history?" Goff asked during a panel with Finland's foreign minister Elina Valtonen.

Peters said in a statement today Goff's comments we...