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Friday 12 January 2018

President Cancels His Visit To London - Pulling Out Of £750m Embassy Opening Amid Fears He Won't Be Made Welcome

President Trump, pictured here with his wife Melania, may have cancelled the trip because he was unhappy about the arrangements and the scale of the visit
Donald Trump has scrapped plans to visit Britain next month, it is claimed. The US President was expected to make his first trip to the UK since entering office, but Government officials have been told he has gone cold on the idea. No new date has been offered, raising the prospect of a major diplomatic snub. One senior source suggested Mr Trump cancelled because he was unhappy about the arrangements and the scale of the visit. The abrupt reversal comes despite Mr Trump telling Theresa May in a phone call last month that he would visit Britain in the New Year. 


As well as talks with Mrs May in No 10, Mr Trump was due to officially open the new US embassy in London. It is understood this role will now be performed by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Though Trump appears to be ready to snub Britain, he has been prepared to visit countries including Saudi Arabia, China and France, where he took part in a high-profile 24-hour visit that was topped off with a military parade on Bastille Day. 


One senior source suggested Mr Trump – who was expected to officially open the new US embassy in London – cancelled because he was unhappy about the arrangements and the scale of the visit.
But Mr Trump tweeted overnight that he thought the US embassy's move from Grosvenor Square in London's prestigious Mayfair district to Nine Elms, south of the Thames, was a 'bad deal'.

He said: 'Reason I cancelled my trip to London is that I am not a big fan of the Obama administration having sold perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for 'peanuts', only to build a new one in an off location for $1.2billion. Bad deal. Wanted me to cut ribbon - NO!'

Despite Mr Trump publicly blaming predecessor Barack Obama, the US announced plans to move to the new site in October 2008 - when his fellow Republican George W Bush was in the White House. 
The reversal comes despite Mr Trump telling Theresa May last month that he would come to Britain in the New Year.
Mr Trump tweeted overnight that he was 'not a big fan of the Obama Administration having sold perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for "peanuts", only to build a new one in an off location for $1.2billion'
Mr Trump tweeted overnight that he was 'not a big fan of the Obama Administration having sold perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for 'peanuts', only to build a new one in an off location for $1.2billion'

Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, suggested that Mr Trump was more aware of opposition in the UK than in other countries he had visited because it was expressed in English.
'I think it's a great shame; the United States is very much one of our closest allies, but the alliance isn't based on who lives in the White House and who lives in Number 10, it's based on shared values, common interests and absolute commitment to the international rules-based system which we have both spent the best part of 70 years upholding through Nato, through the United Nations and through various other treaty organisations around the world,' he told Today.
'While I think it's a shame, I think - if I'm honest - it more reflects the fact that other people criticise in French, Italian, Korean and other languages and we criticise in English, and it's much easier for him to read English.'  
Officials have already moved into the £750million US embassy near Battersea Power Station in South London. The new building will open for business on January 16
Officials have already moved into the £750million US embassy near Battersea Power Station in South London. The new building will open for business on January 16
The former US Embassy on Grosvenor Square in London's Mayfair, which Mr Trump has described as 'perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London'
The former US Embassy on Grosvenor Square in London's Mayfair, which Mr Trump has described as 'perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London'
In reply to Mr Trump's tweet today, former Labour leader Ed Miliband posted: 'Nope it's because nobody wanted you to come. And you got the message.'
In reply to Mr Trump's tweet today, former Labour leader Ed Miliband posted: 'Nope it's because nobody wanted you to come. And you got the message.'
Labour MP Stephen Doughty said on Twitter: 'Reason Donald Trump cancelled trip to London is that we are not a big fan of his racist, sexist, unthinking behaviour'
Labour MP Stephen Doughty said on Twitter: 'Reason Donald Trump cancelled trip to London is that we are not a big fan of his racist, sexist, unthinking behaviour'
Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage (left), an ally of Mr Trump, suggested concerns about protests may have been the real reason for the visit's cancellation, while Labour MP Chuka Umunna (right, both on BBC Radio 4 this morning) said it was 'very welcome he is not coming any more'
Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage (left), an ally of Mr Trump, suggested concerns about protests may have been the real reason for the visit's cancellation, while Labour MP Chuka Umunna (right, both on BBC Radio 4 this morning) said it was 'very welcome he is not coming any more'

Mr Trump has previously expressed concern about the likelihood of mass protests. Last year he told Mrs May he did not want to go ahead with a visit until the British public supported it.
The Prime Minister and the President clashed in November when she criticised his decision to re-tweet anti-Muslim propaganda from a far-Right group, Britain First. 
In a rare public rebuke, she said: 'I am very clear that retweeting from Britain First was the wrong thing to do.'
Mr Trump hit back on Twitter, saying: 'Don't focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom.' He added: 'We are doing just fine!'
They clashed again when Mrs May criticised his decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, calling it 'unhelpful in terms of prospects for peace in the region'.
However, following a phone call between the pair on December 19, officials were bullish about the visit taking place. Their conversation was described as 'genial'. 

Via - Dailymail


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