President Donald Trump took to Twitter to say he wouldn’t travel to London because he is “not a big fan” of a plan to move the U.S. Embassy’s location in London. However, he blamed the wrong former president for the plan.
Trump wrote on Twitter that the “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!”
According to The Washington Post, former President Barack Obama didn’t authorize the move. Former President George W. Bush’s administration decided to relocate the embassy “during a worldwide push for greater security at U.S. diplomatic sites” in an effort to protect diplomatic sites from terrorism.
The Post reported that the embassy was moved from central London to the Nine Elms area, which the president described as “an off location.”
The embassy posted on its social media pages that it will relocate on Jan. 16.
The Post reported that Trump told British Prime Minister Theresa May last month that he would visit London early this year. The Daily Mail reported that a working visit was scheduled rather than a state visit, which would include meeting Queen Elizabeth, and “the lack of 'bells and whistles' and royal involvement next month visit may have discouraged him.”
May, the leader of America’s closest ally, was the first foreign head of state to visit Trump after his inauguration last year. A return visit by Trump, however, was delayed because some British lawmakers voiced objection to Trump over policies they called anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant. Some threatened to boycott his visit. May rebuked Trump in September for sharing unverified videos from an anti-Muslim group on Twitter.
Some implied the president canceled his visit due to fears of protests.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan, whom Trump has sparred with in the past, celebrated the canceled visit on Twitter.
“It seems he's finally got that message,” wrote Khan, adding that Trump “is not welcome here while he is pursuing such a divisive agenda.”
David Lammy, a Labour Party lawmaker, wrote that Trump would have been “met by millions of us out on the streets protesting.”
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson accused Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Khan of putting the “crucial relationship” between the United States and Britain at risk with their comments. He also called Khan a “puffed up pompous popinjay.”
