Donald Trump will no longer visit the UK to attend the opening of the new US embassy in London over fears he will not be made welcome, according to reports.
Sky News and the Daily Mail both report Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, will take his place at the event scheduled for the end of next month.
Sky News understands U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will visit the UK to open the new U.S. embassy in London instead of President Trump
Daily Mail: Trump doesn’t want to come to the UK because he thinks he won’t be made welcome. Full state visit with Queen Then ‘working visit’ to PM Now…nothing? Protests were certainly on the cards pic.twitter.com/3IPisQAf83
January 11, 2018
Trump had originally been scheduled for a full State Visit including a Royal banquet at Buckingham Palace but this was later downgraded to a ‘stripped-down’ trip that didn’t involve getting the full ‘red-carpet’ treatment from the Queen.
The intention was to repeat the success of Barack Obama’s own State Visit in 2011, but critics pointed out the convention was to wait for a President’s second term in office before being granted the honour.
The Trump trip had been expected this summer, but the UK snap general election as well as growing controversy over Trump’s foreign policy led to a rethink.
Some had even planned to ‘moon’ the President en masse, as part of a campaign called ‘Show your rump to Trump’ and followed large protests in London.
It now appears the entire thing is off.
This is the power of our protest This is our power when #westandtogether This is our power when we say#TimesUp on the politics of hate and bigotry https://t.co/gbHk7k8FBG
January 11, 2018
The White House has yet to respond.
Just this weekend Theresa May said Trump is a “committed” US President and his state visit to the UK is not under threat.
Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, she was asked: “In the States there are quite serious questions being raised by some people about his mental state.
“Do you think they’re serious?”
The PM replied: “No. As I say when I deal with President Trump what I see is somebody who is committed to ensuring that he is taking decisions in the best interests of the United States.”
She added: “He will be coming to this country.”
The comments came after US-UK relations hit a low at the end of last year when Trump retweeted anti-Muslim tweets from a member of a far-right British group.
In an unprecedented condemnation of the White House, Theresa May criticised Trump directly when her official spokesman said the President was “wrong” to have supported Britain First’s attempts to “divide communities through their use of hateful narratives which peddle lies and stoke tension”.
.@Theresa_May, don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just fine!
November 30, 2017
Defending Trump, Boris Johnson said the President did not take a “namby-pamby” approach to politics.
“Maybe he’ll ruffle feathers – there’s no question that maybe some feathers were ruffled,” he added.
May was the first foreign leader to visit the White House following Trump’s election.
Trump’s knows his international standing is so unbelievably bad that he is afraid to visit America’s most important and powerful ally. https://t.co/KP2qazLf7Q
January 11, 2018