Trump cancels London visit over 'bad' embassy deal

(CNN) US President Donald Trump won't be paying a visit to London to open his country's billion-dollar embassy, he tweeted Thursday.

The trip, which would have been Trump's first to the UK as president, had not been officially announced but was expected next month.
In the tweet, Trump blames his predecessor, former president Barack Obama, for the decision to sell the existing embassy, which he describes as "the best located and finest" in the city, for "'peanuts.'"

"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!" the full tweet reads.

The decision to move the embassy from Grosvenor Square to Nine Elms was made in 2008 under George W. Bush, not Obama. It would have been impossible to retrofit the aging concrete building with the security measures needed, officials said at the time.
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Large protests are expected to accompany any presidential visit to the British capital, where Trump is deeply unpopular.
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Former Labour leader Ed Miliband replied to Trump's tweet shortly after it was posted, challenging the assertion that it was Trump's dissatisfaction with the deal that had derailed the visit.
"Nope it's because nobody wanted you to come," Miliband wrote in a reply to the US leader's tweet. "And you got the message."

 

Last edited by Goose (1/12/2018 6:47 am)