UK still waiting for official Trump visit
YEAR PASSES AFTER MAY INVITE
THE UK still waits for Donald Trump to make an official visit, almost a year after Theresa May invited him and the prospect appears even more distant after the cancellation of a planned trip to open the US embassy.
Just seven days after the US president’s inauguration in January 2017, the Prime Minister flew to Washington to extend the invitation – officially on behalf of the Queen – for a state visit.
The prospect of Mr Trump enjoying a carriage ride with the monarch down The Mall was met with horror by the US leader’s critics and, almost 12 months on, public hostility remains a possible reason that Air Force One has not yet brought the president to the UK. Mr Trump’s official explanation for cancelling his trip to London expected in February was because he was “not a big fan” of the new embassy’s location.
But allies acknowledged the prospect of mass demonstrations could have been a factor.
The controversial state visit invitation was extended as Mrs May became the first foreign leader to meet Mr Trump following his inauguration as she sought to build support for a post-Brexit trade deal with the US.
Only two occupants of the White House have been treated to a grand state visit during the Queen’s reign, George W Bush in 2003 and Barack Obama in May 2011.