Trump will visit in February – but he won’t meet Queen
DONALD Trump last night told Theresa May he will visit Britain in the new year – despite warnings he could face the biggest protests since the Iraq War.
In a phone call to Mrs May, the US President confirmed he will press ahead with a ‘working visit’ to London pencilled in for late February.
He will use the trip to open the new US embassy in London, while he is also expected to hold talks with the Prime Minister in Downing Street.
But a planned meeting with the Queen will not take place until he makes a full state visit – plans for which are on ice.
The President’s visit to the UK comes despite a series of public clashes with Mrs May, including a major row last month when the Prime Minister condemned Mr Trump’s decision to re-tweet anti-Muslim propaganda from far-Right group Britain First.
The PM was also critical of Mr Trump recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital – a move the UK views as damaging to hopes for a two-state solution.
No mention of Mr Trump’s trip to the UK was made in read-outs of the call released by No 10 and the White House.
But a Whitehall source said Mr Trump had told the PM he would be visiting Britain to attend the opening of the £750million American embassy, as reported in the Mail this month.
Earlier this year more than a million people signed a petition calling for a planned state visit to be cancelled – raising the prospect that Mr Trump could spark the biggest protests since the Iraq War when one million protested in London.
The new US embassy has a moat, toughened glass that can withstand a rocket-propelled grenade and even its own contingent of US Marines. The building’s architect James Timberlake described it as ‘the safest building in Britain’.
However, moving Mr Trump around London is likely to prove a major security headache.
The President showed his displeasure at recent criticism from Mrs May by making her wait 13 days to discuss Israel.
When the two leaders finally spoke last night they tried to paper over their differences.
Mr Trump noted the UK had backed a United Nations Security Council resolution, vetoed by the US, which rejected the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Mrs May told him the UK ‘doesn’t agree’ with the move, but she looked forward to seeing promised US plans for peace in the region.
The Prime Minister made no mention of the Twitter row which sparked fresh calls for Mr Trump to be banned from Britain.
He had provoked a diplomatic rift last month when he retweeted three hate videos produced by Britain First.
At the time, Mrs May condemned his actions as ‘wrong’, leading him to hit back on Twitter, telling her: ‘Theresa May, don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom.’
Labour MP Barry Sheerman said any visit by Mr Trump would spark ‘unparalleled demonstrations in this country’.
The US President pulled out of a planned state visit because of concerns about protests.
But diplomats have decided it is untenable for Mr Trump to indefinitely avoid visiting one of the US’s closest allies.
Government sources insisted last night’s phone call had been ‘pretty genial’, with Mr Trump said to have been interested in Mrs May’s Brexit breakthrough. No10 said they had ‘agreed on the importance of a swift postBrexit trade deal’.
They also discussed Mr Trump’s plans for massive tax cuts in the US, which have alarmed some senior figures in the West, including Chancellor Philip Hammond.