The White House confirmed that the judgment “will complicate the confidentiality of our intelligence-sharing relationship with the UK, and it will have to factor into our decision-making”.

This week, after an official report detailed wrongdoing by British intelligence officers more than two decades ago, he went to the House of Commons and described it as "shocking" at least four times.

White House officials say information on the plant was gathered over the course of years by the U. S. , French and British intelligence agencies.