Donald Trump CANCELS visit to UK blaming Obama’s ‘bad deal’ on new £750m US embassy… but was he just scared of protests?
The US President was due to make his first trip to Britain since being elected last year but has scrapped the trip
DONALD TRUMP has cancelled next month's visit to the UK blaming a "bad deal" on the new £750m US embassy.
The US President took to Twitter to say his first trip to Britain since being elected last year was off amid claims he feared mass street protests.
He blamed his predecessor Barack Obama for selling off the former embassy in Grosvenor Square "for peanuts".
But hundreds of Brits, including ex-Labour leader Ed Miliband, took to social media to say Trump scrapped the trip because "nobody wanted you to come".
And even Trump's pal Nigel Farage suggested the President was trying to avoid the "optics" of being met by protests on the streets of London.
Trump had been due to cut the ribbon on the new facility near Battersea Power Station in South London - but will instead send Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to perform the duty.
The President tweeted: "Reason I cancelled 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 President is also due to meet the Queen in a full state visit at a later date but a source claimed the lack of "bells and whistles" may have put him off coming on the initial visit.
It is understood Trump also feared mass street protests and had previously insisted he would only visit when he had the support of the people.
Hundreds have taken to social media to say Trump had backed out because he was "not welcome".
Mr Miliband tweeted: “Nope it’s because nobody wanted you to come. And you got the message.”
Trump blunders in tweet confirming scrapped visit
DONALD TRUMP tweeted early this morning: "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!"
In fact, the decision to move the embassy was taken by the government of George W. Bush in 2008, before Barack Obama came to office.
The reasons for the move to Nine Elms include the difficulty of beefing up security in busy Grosvenor Square.
The US was also unable to buy the freehold on the old embassy from the Duke of Westminster, whose company owns the land.
It is true the Americans had to slash the asking price for the building when they sold it to the Qatari royal family.
But that is mostly because the embassy was suddenly listed by British authorities, making it harder to make alterations.
South Londoners are also likely to hit back at the descriptions of Nine Elms, near Vauxhall, as an "off location".
While the new embassy is far from Knightsbridge and Mayfair, London's traditional diplomatic districts, it is only half an hour's walk from the seat of power in Parliament and Downing Street.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who has repeatedly clashed with Trump, welcomed the cancellation of the trip.
He said in a statement: "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."
Labour MP Chuka Umunna added: “In both an unsurprising but welcome turn of events, Donald Trump has spat his dummy out and decided not to visit Britain.";
And Jo Swinson, deputy leader of the Lib Dems, said: "News that Trump has thrown his toys out of the pram and cancelled his trip to the UK will be welcomed by all of us who reject his abhorrent views.
"But it’s a disappointing sign of how weak May’s leadership is that she wasn’t brave enough to call the visit off herself."
J.K. Rowling accused the President of acting chicken, and Sue Perkins joked that Trump was staying away because he is worried he will screw up the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Trump's decision not to head across the Atlantic comes despite Prime Minister Theresa May saying that a future visit was still on the cards last week.
A Downing Street spokesman said: "Our position is that an offer for a state visit has been extended and accepted."
In an embarrassing coincidence, US ambassador Woody Johnson today wrote an article for the London Evening Standard praising the new embassy building as "one of the most advanced embassies we have ever built".
The piece is believed to have been planned in advance of Trump's decision - but was apparently hastily rewritten today to ensure it didn't contradict the President.
Downing Street was hoping to nail down exact dates for the initial trip this week, with February 26 and 27 pencilled in, but sources suggest plans are now up in the air.
Mrs May controversially extended the offer of a state visit - officially on behalf of the Queen - when she became the first world leader to meet Mr Trump in the White House following his inauguration last year.
Since then, however, the president has indicated he does not want to take up the invitation if he is going to face mass demonstrations.
It had been expected he could make a low-key working visit rather than a trip which involved all the trappings of a state occasion.
Last month, doubt was cast over whether he would come at all after the prime minister criticised him for retweeting three videos from far-right group Britain First.
It had been thought the president would pull out of the engagement after Mrs May said he was "wrong" to retweet the far-right group.
Writing on social media, Mr Trump said she should focus on fighting Islamic terrorism rather than his tweets.
DON THE MOVE... But here's the countries Trump WILL happily visit
Saudi Arabia
Donald Trump's whirlwind 24-hr visit started with a bouquet of flowers and parade of honour, with horsemen carrying US flags.
He was spotted holding King Salman’s hand as he was welcomed by the Saudi Royal Court.
France
Mr Trump was invited to admire a military parade on Bastille Day.
The President was named guest of honour at the celebrations and was saluted by soldiers on the Champs Elysees.
He shared a 29-second handshake with president Emmanuel Macron.
Israel
PM Benjamin Netanyahu and wife Sara welcomed Donald and First Lady Melania - and insisted they had even painted the place ahead of the visit.
He gifted the President a 150-year-old bottle of wine as a gift.
China
The President received a personal tour of the Imperial Palace by President Xi Jinping .
Poland
Residents chanted Donald Trump's name as he gave a speech at Warsaw.
Germany
Mr Trump was met with streets lined with protesters as he attended the G20 summit.
It may have given him reason to fear British activists.
Japan
Mr Trump played a round of golf against one of the nation's champions and was welcomed with an elaborate ceremony at the palace.
South Korea
"You are making America great again" President Moon Jae-in told Mr Trump - echoing his famous campaign slogan.
Britain First is understood to have had less than 1,000 paid up members but claim they have had hundreds of new applications following the property mogul's retweets.
President Trump has over 44 million followers and was criticised by Labour and Conservative politicians for giving the extremist group a platform.
The US embassy in London was unavailable for comment.
Last night, the , reported Donald Trump slammed immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries, allegedly saying: "Why are we having all these people from s****** countries come here?"
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He also reportedly suggested that the United States should instead bring more people from countries such as Norway.
A spokesman for the White House said: "“Certain Washington politicians choose to fight for foreign countries, but President Trump will always fight for the American people."
Haiti’s government said they “vehemently condemn” Mr Trump's comments and have ordered a meeting with the President, according to the New York Post.
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