
Some U.K. lawmakers had said Trump was not welcome in Britain after he re-tweeted videos from a far-right British group and criticized London Mayor Sadiq Khan following a terror attack previous year.
On the face of it, Trump called off his "working" visit to the United Kingdom because of his displeasure at the Obama administration's decision to sell off the previous, "finest", embassy in Grosvenor Square to the Qataris for "peanuts" (never mind the fact that this decision was made in the final months of George W Bush's time in office, not Barack Obama's).
"(The) reason I canceled [sic] 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 ($A1.7 billion)", Trump said in a tweet late on Thursday. In an outburst on Twitter, the United States president said the new location is "bad" and no, he won't cut the ribbon.
Khan said Trump's visit would "without doubt have been met with mass peaceful protests" and that it was a mistake for Prime Minister Theresa May to invite him on a state visit.
"The US chancery in Grosvenor Square had aged beyond its ability to be improved to current security and life safety standards without extensive investment in infrastructure that would require appropriated dollars", he said.
Last night British officials said the visit was canned for "personal reasons" after a series of perceived slights.
Just south of the River Thames, the cube-shaped embassy building is in sight of Westminster and part of a £15 billion, 561-acre regeneration project set to transform one of the South Bank's last remaining industrial stretches.
More news: Rand tumbles most among peers as Zuma seeks to dodge exit callsIn Washington, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump's comment was exclusively about an embassy-related visit. In December, USAmbassador to Panama John Feeley resigned in protest of Trump's policies, ahead of the president deriding Latin American nations such as Haiti and El Salvador as "s***hole countries", Reuters reported Friday.
In the meantime, the relationship between May and Trump has come under strain.
In addition, Ms May and Mr Trump fell out spectacularly in November over his retweeting of anti-Muslim videos posted online by the deputy leader of the far-right Britain First group, Jayda Fransen.
Downing Street was unable to say whether Mr Johnson was speaking for the Government, stressing how it was "not aware of the circumstances of the tweet".
Many Londoners have made it clear that Donald Trump is not welcome here while he is pursuing such a divisive agenda. "We will not allow US-UK relations to be endangered by some puffed-up, pompous popinjay in City Hall".
"The US is the biggest single investor in Britain - yet Khan & Corbyn seem determined to put this crucial relationship at risk", he tweeted.
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