May reaffirms invitation to Trump as rumors swirl
Prime minister says she won’t step down, tweaks her Cabinet
“The Queen extended an invitation to President Trump to visit the U.K. and there is no change to those plans.” Statement from Theresa May
British Prime Minister Theresa May said Sunday that the invitation extended to President Trump for a state visit has not been rescinded, although it still is unclear whether she will remain at the helm of her politically splintered country if he shows up later this year.
May is clinging to power after her Conservative Party lost its majority in Parliament in Thursday’s election. She has refused to step down and is trying to build a majority coalition with the support of Northern Ireland’s socially conservative Democratic Unionist Party. May’s conservatives are eight seats short of a majority in the House of Commons; the DUP holds 10 seats.
Some conservatives want her out, and former high-ranking party member George Osborne on Sunday dismissed her as “dead woman walking.” May shrugged off the criticism and said she won’t resign.
“I said during the election campaign that ... I would serve a full term,” she said Sunday.
The prime minister soldiered on, announcing a modest Cabinet reshuffle. Former London mayor Boris Johnson remains foreign secretary, and Amber Rudd keeps her job as home secretary. But close May ally Damian Green, who held the post of work and pensions secretary, moves up to first secretary of state — essentially May’s second in command.
Johnson was quick to deny rumors that he would lead the effort to remove May. “I am backing Theresa may. Let’s get on with the job,” he tweeted.
May faced more controversy Sunday when The Guardian newspaper reported Trump told May in a phone conversation “in recent weeks” that he did not want to make a state visit to the United Kingdom if it would prompt large protests. The
Guardian cited a May adviser who was in the room when the call was made.
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn was delighted, tweeting: “Cancellation of President Trump’s State Visit is welcome, especially after his attack on London’s mayor & withdrawal from #ParisClimateDeal.”
The Guardian story drew wide coverage, compelling May to address it, although she didn’t deny it. “We aren’t going to comment on speculation about the contents of private phone conversations,” May’s office said in a statement. “The Queen extended an invitation to President Trump to visit the U.K. and there is no change to those plans.”
The White House said the visit never came up, and no date was set. Still, the reaffirmed invite sounded markedly less warm than when May extended the invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to Trump days after his election. May’s Conservative Party held a majority in Parliament when she became the first foreign leader to visit Trump at the White House and said she was “delighted” that Trump agreed to the visit.
Now she is fighting for political survival, and Trump isn’t helping her cause. Trump’s America-first mantra has never played well in Britain. Then last week the president ignited controversy when he called out London Mayor Sadiq Khan over his response to the recent London terrorist attack that left eight people dead.
Khan said Londoners should not be concerned by an increased police presence on the streets after the attacks on London Bridge and at Borough Market.
Trump’s Twitter response: “Pathetic excuse by London Mayor Sadiq Khan who had to think fast on his ‘no reason to be alarmed’ statement.”
Khan then called for Trump’s visit to be canceled.