Special relationship under intense strain

To a casual observer, it could appear that the UK’S relationship with the US President is becoming increasingly fraught.

They may have famously held hands when Theresa May became the first major foreign leader to visit the White House just a week after Donald Trump’s inauguration, but there have been relatively few signs of a conviviality since.

Mr Trump’s decision to cancel a visit to Britain, where he had been due to open the new American embassy, is the latest bump in the road — but will not yet prove fatal for the usually cordial relationship between the two allies.

Several times now Mrs May has found herself in the somewhat awkward position of having to denounce her new friend. Soon after her return from the States, Mrs May admitted his determination to ban refugees was something she could “not agree” with.

Last September, the PM was again under pressure to riticise the US President after he told the world’s media the Parsons Green Tube bomber was “in the sights” of Scotland Yard. Such speculation was, she warned, “unhelpful”.

And, although initially silent on the issue, amid mounting public anger, Mrs May eventually took Mr Trump to task for retweeting unverified footage from the controversial Britain First group.

Through it all, the PM has insisted she “looks forward” to hosting Mr Trump during an official state visit.

One wonders just how gritted her teeth are...