Trump ‘hurt by UK slights’ – officials
United States President Donald Trump’s decision to cancel his visit to London was made for ‘‘personal reasons’’ after a series of perceived slights, British officials say.
Trump had been expected to open the new American embassy in the capital but scrapped the visit after clashing with the mayor of London and Prime Minister Theresa May, the officials added.
A Whitehall source said the decision came after the president was left smarting over a number of rows, including a rebuke from May when he appeared to endorse a British far-right group.
Trump wrote on Twitter that his cancellation was based on his disagreement with the decision to sell the lease on the US embassy in Grosvenor Square and build a new mission in Battersea. He blamed the move on the Obama administration, even though the deal was announced in October 2008, a month before Barack Obama was elected, under the administration of George W Bush.
Whitehall sources believe that Trump was angered by a series of diplomatic incidents, including a war of words over Islamist extremism with London Mayor Sadiq Khan, that have strained the ‘‘special relationship’’ between Washington and London.
Whitehall officials also pointed to a phone call last year with May in which Trump said he would not take up her offer of a state visit until the British public had shown they supported it.
Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary and former London mayor, yesterday accused Khan and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has been outspoken in his criticism of Trump, of endangering Britain’s relationship with the US.
‘‘We will not allow US-UK relations to be endangered by some puffed up pompous popinjay in City Hall,’’ Johnson tweeted.
A spokesman for May said the prime minister did not blame Khan. ‘‘The US and the UK are natural, resilient, strong partners and allies, and we do more together than any two countries in the world.’’
Khan said in a statement: ‘‘It appears that President Trump got the message from the many Londoners who love and admire America and Americans, but find his policies and actions the polar opposite of our city’s values of inclusion, diversity and tolerance. His visit next month would without doubt have been met by mass peaceful protests.
‘‘This just reinforces what a mistake it was for Theresa May to extend an invitation of a state visit in the first place.’’
Nile Gardiner, a close ally of Trump and director of the Margaret Thatcher Centre for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation, said: ‘‘Without doubt the very hostile messaging from Sadiq Khan and Jeremy Corbyn played a big factor in this. To have a mayor of London directly attacking the US president and saying he’s not welcome would be a big factor in the overall decision-making, as would be the prospect of mass protests.’’
David Frum, a former speechwriter to George W Bush and the author of Trumpocracy, said: ‘‘I think he feels slighted by the British nation. He had been looking forward to the rapturous crowds lining the streets on the way to Buckingham Palace. Something like Winston Churchill’s funeral, something like that was what he had in mind.’’
Trump had been warned that there might be protests when May made the offer of a state visit shortly after his inauguration.
Britain was one of 128 countries that recently voted at the United Nations to condemn the Trump administration’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, said that the US was ‘‘taking names’’.
A government source said it was also ‘‘quite possible’’ that Trump was cross and cancelled because he wanted to attend the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, which Obama may be invited to.
The White House insisted yesterday that a state visit was still being planned.
No 10 Downing Street and the Foreign Office are understood to have known about Trump’s decision for two or three days before the news became public.