TRUMP vs MAY
US prez tweets and puts ‘special relationship’ with the UK in peril
london — Britain was reeling on Thursday after US President Donald Trump castigated Prime Minister Theresa May over her rebuke to him for posting anti-Muslim tweets, but the government sought to play down the row.
Plunging headlong into a highprofile spat with one of America’s closest international partners, Trump suggested May focus on defending Britain rather than criticising him after he retweeted antiMuslim videos from a British far-right group.
“@Theresa_May, don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just fine!” Trump tweeted late on Wednesday.
Trump had to delete an earlier tweet with the same message after he used the wrong Twitter handle for May, instead tagging @theresamay, who is reportedly a 41-yearold mother from Bognor Regis with just six followers. There were calls for Trump’s planned state visit to Britain, which has been highly controversial ever since May extended the invitation at her first meeting with him at the White House in January, to be cancelled. —
london — US President Donald Trump, in an unprecedented public attack on America’s closest security ally, sharply rebuked British Prime Theresa May on Twitter after Britain criticised him for retweeting British far-right anti-Islam videos.
“Theresa @theresamay, don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just fine,” Trump tweeted, sparking further outrage in Britain that has seen several major militant attacks on its streets.
Trump’s unrepentant response was a reaction to May’s spokesman who on Wednesday criticised his retweets of anti-Islam videos originally posted by a leader of a British far-right fringe group.
“It is wrong for the president to have done this,” the spokesman said.
Trump sparked criticism on both sides of the Atlantic on Wednesday by sharing anti-Muslim videos posted by Jayda Fransen, deputy
Theresa @ theresamay, don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Terrorism that is taking place within the UK. We are doing just fine.” Donald Trump US president
leader of the group Britain First, who was convicted this month of abusing a Muslim woman.
His new response triggered outrage in Britain, with some opposition politicians demanding he appologise for his sharp words to May.
Militants have carried out several major attacks in Britain this year that have killed a total of 36 people, including a bombing in Manchester and two attacks on bridges in London in which victims were rammed with vehicles and stabbed.
A spokesman for May’s Downing Street office in London declined to comment on Trump’s tweet on Thursday. May was on a trip to the Middle East and was expected to speak to media in Jordan later on Thursday.
Trump initially addressed his tweet to a Twitter handle that was not May’s, though he later retweeted to the British leader’s correct account.
Always 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. Since Trump became president, May has gone out of her way to cultivate a good relationship with him.
She was the first foreign leader to visit him after his inauguration, and they were filmed emerging from the White House holding hands. She also invited him to make a state visit to Britain, angering Trump’s many critics in Britain.
Trump’s tweet triggered outraged reaction in Britain, including from Brendan Cox, the husband of lawmaker Jo Cox who was murdered in 2016 by a far-right extremist.
“You have a mass shooting every single day in your country, your murder rate is many times that of the UK, your healthcare system is a disgrace, you can’t pass anything through a Congress that you control. I would focus on that,” Cox tweeted.
The videos shared by Trump purported to show a group of people who were Muslims beating a teenage boy to death, battering a boy on crutches and destroying a Christian statue.
Reuters was unable to verify the videos. The Dutch embassy in Washington issued a Twitter comment on one of them, which Fransen had described as showing a “Muslim migrant” beating up a boy.
“@realDonald Trump Facts do matter. The perpetrator of the violent act in this video was born and raised in the Netherlands. He received and completed his sentence under Dutch law.” —