Trump cancels Britain trip, blames Obama for 'peanuts' London embassy deal
LONDON - U.S. President Donald Trump cancelled a trip to London scheduled for next month to open a new embassy, saying he did not want to endorse what he understood was an Obamaera decision to move out of the old one.
The cancellation is a further blow to relations between the allies. More than a year into his presidency, Trump has yet to visit London, with many Britons vowing to protest against a man they see as crude, volatile and opposed to their values on a range of issues.
"(The) reason I canceLled my trip to London is that I am not a big fan of the Obama Administration having sold perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for 'peanuts,' only to build a new one in an off location for 1.2 billion dollars," Trump said in a tweet late on Thursday.
“Bad deal. Wanted me to cut ribbon-NO!” Trump said.
The decision to acquire a new London embassy site on the south bank of the Thames was announced in 2008 under George W. Bush along with the plans to put the Grosvenor Square site in upscale Mayfair up for sale.
A pillar of Britain’s foreign policy since World War Two, the socalled “special relationship” with Washington has taken on added importance as Britain prepares to leave the European Union in 2019 and seeks new major trade deals.
Prime Minister Theresa May was the first foreign leader to visit Trump after his inauguration in January last year, and they were filmed emerging from the White House holding hands. She later said Trump took her hand in a gentlemanly gesture as they walked down a ramp.
But senior British officials have been dismayed by some of Trump’s pronouncements, particularly a proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States and most recently when Trump rebuked May on Twitter after she criticised him for retweeting British farright anti-Islam videos.
A Downing Street spokesman declined immediate comment. During May’s U.S. trip a year ago, she extended an invitation to Trump to make a formal state visit - which includes pomp, pageantry and a banquet with Queen Elizabeth - by the end of 2017.