Donald Trump cancelled London visit over 'personal slights' from Theresa May, Sadiq Khan
2 min read
Donald Trump’s decision to cancel his proposed UK visit was for “personal reasons”, according to government officials.
Mr Trump was due to open the new US embassy in London, but according to the Times was reportedly upset by criticism from London’s Labour mayor Sadiq Khan and the Prime Minister Theresa May.
“I don’t think anyone believes this is an issue of policy or divergence between our countries,” a source said.
Mrs May rebuked Mr Trump in November last year after he retweeted anti-Muslim videos posted by the deputy leader of far-right group Britain First.
On Twitter yesterday, the President blamed the Obama administration for brokering the deal to locate the new embassy in Vauxhall, south London. The agreement was actually struck when George W Bush was in the White House.
In response, Mr Khan said that the President had “got the message”, adding: "His visit next month would without doubt have been met by mass peaceful protests. This just reinforces what a mistake it was for Theresa May to rush and extend an invitation of a state visit in the first place.
This provoked an astonishing reaction from Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson who, apparently to the surprise of Downing Street, described the London mayor as a "puffed-up pompous popinjay" who was putting US-UK relations at risk.
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