Trump cancels UK trip, blames Obama for ‘bad deal’ on embassy

LONDON : US President Donald Trump cancelled a trip to London scheduled for next month to open a new embassy, blaming Barack Obama for selling off the old one for “peanuts” in a bad deal.

More than a year into his presidency, Trump has yet to visit London, with many British voters promising mass protests against a US leader they see as crude, volatile and opposed to their values.

“(The) reason I canceled 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 1.2 billion dollars,” Trump tweeted.

“Bad deal. Wanted me to cut ribbon-NO!” Trump said.

The decision to acquire a new London embassy site was announced in 2008 under George W Bush along with the plans to put the Grosvenor Square site in Mayfair up for sale.

A pillar of Britain’s foreign policy, the so-called “special relationship” with Washington has taken on added importance as Britain prepares to leave the European Union in 2019.

But British officials have been dismayed by some of Trump’s pronouncements, particularly a proposed ban on Muslims entering the US and Trump rebuking Prime Minister Theresa May on Twitter after she criticised him for retweeting British far-right anti-Islam videos.