Ambassador defends new US embassy after president’s outburst
Trump blames Obama’s ‘bad deal’ on sale of old building for calling off visit to Britain next month
THE US ambassador to Britain has publicly defended his country’s new London embassy after Donald Trump blamed its cost for cancelling a visit.
Woody Johnson said America’s new embassy did not cost US taxpayers “a cent” and insisted the move was needed because of the terrorist threat after the September 11 attacks in 2001.
The president had earlier tweeted that he would not visit London next month as planned because the original embassy was sold for “peanuts”.
However, Boris Johnson blamed leading Labour figures for putting off Mr Trump with their criticism, placing the special relationship “at risk”.
The fallout came after Mr Trump once again postponed a “working visit” to Britain, originally pencilled in for January but delayed until February.
It further pushes back the time when Mr Trump is expected to visit the UK for the first time. He has already visited France, China, Japan, South Korea and the Middle East.
Mr Trump tweeted: “Reason I canceled 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. Bad deal. Wanted me to cut ribbon – NO!” The US embassy has moved from Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, to Nine Elms in Battersea, south London. The decision was actually taken by George W Bush, not Barack Obama. It later emerged that the old embassy was sold for £315million, well below the £500million that experts claimed it should have cost – appearing to back up Mr Trump’s criticism.
The US embassy later issued a statement saying the decision was made in 2007. The statement noted that the total project cost around $1 billion, but added that “no taxpayer dollars” were spent on the move.
Mr Trump had been expected to attend an event marking the opening of the embassy, a visit pencilled in for Feb 26 and 27. In an article published in the London Evening Standard, Mr Johnson, who was appointed ambassador last year, pushed back on the president’s criticism.
“I agree with President Trump that Grosvenor Square ... was a perfect location for our embassy,” he said. But he added: “Security concerns after September 11 meant we had to move to a location that could better protect American citizens and our British neigh- bours.” Mr Johnson said the embassy was “bigger” and “better” than the old site and came at no public cost. “It is the most secure, hi-tech and environmentally friendly embassy that the United States has ever built,” he wrote. “Purchased and built from the sale of our London properties, the new embassy did not cost the US taxpayer a cent.” Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, who has clashed with Mr Trump, praised the announcement. He said: “It appears that President Trump got the message from the many Londoners who love and admire America and Americans but find his policies and actions the polar opposite of our city’s values of inclusion, diversity and tolerance.” However, the Foreign Secretary hit back: “The US is the biggest single investor in the UK – yet Khan & [Jeremy] Corbyn seem determined to put this crucial relationship at risk. We will not allow US-UK relations to be endangered by some puffed up pompous popinjay in City Hall.” Theresa May backed Mr Johnson. A Downing Street source said: “Boris expresses himself in his own inimitable way. We agree that any risk to the crucial USUK relationship is not in our country’s best interests.” Mr Trump is still expected to make a formal state visit to Britain during his first term.