Trump’s visit ‘put on hold’

DONALD TRUMP has told the Prime Minister he will not come to the UK on a state visit if there are large-scale protests against him, it emerged yesterday.

The US president is said to have told Theresa May he does not want to come if people do not welcome his visit, after widespread disapproval of the decision to invite him to the UK.

The message was allegedly communicated in a phone call between the pair in the past few weeks.

It comes after Mr Trump caused upset in the wake of the London terrorist attack when he criticised Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, for telling people to remain calm.

When Mr Khan’s office said he had simply been saying people should not be alarmed by the additional police presence on the streets, Mr Trump accused him of making “pathetic excuses”, prompting the mayor to call for the visit to be dropped.

A number of other public figures also called for Mr Trump to be blocked from visiting the UK amid concerns it would take up valuable police resources.

An online petition against the state occasion was signed by almost two million people, prompting a debate in Parliament. However, the Prime Minister

made it clear that the visit will go ahead. Mr Trump’s visit was scheduled for the summer but was postponed until October after the snap election was called.

A Downing Street adviser who was present during the phone call told the newspaper that Mrs May was “surprised” by the statement.

It is expected that the visit will be put on hold for some time as British public opinion about Mr Trump is not overwhelmingly positive.

Mrs May invited Mr Trump and his wife to Britain on a state visit when she travelled to Washington to meet him just a week after his election victory. Since then there have been a number of calls for the visit to be called off after Mr Trump introduced a series of controversial measures.

A No 10 spokesman said it did not comment on private conversations. They said: “The Queen extended an invitation to President Trump to visit the UK and there is no change to those plans.”

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, welcomed the news, tweeting: “Cancellation of President Trump’s State Visit is welcome, especially after his attack on London’s mayor & withdrawal from #Parisclimatedeal.”

A spokesman for the president said: “That subject never came up on the call.”