Trump To Put UK State Visit On Hold: Reports
President Donald Trump is likely to put his state visit to the United Kingdom in October on hold, and he told British Prime Minister Theresa May he will come to the country only when he feels welcomed by British public, the Guardian and the New York Times reported Sunday.
In January, the president and his wife Melania were invited by Queen Elizabeth II for the state visit only a week after he assumed office, as May’s government pushed for the invitation. Following this, protests erupted in the country with people demanding the invitation to visit be canceled. An online petition, urging the British prime minister to cancel the invitation to the U.S. president, garnered over 1.8 million signatures. Politicians argued Trump’s visit would cause an embarrassment to the queen. Despite the criticism, the state visit plan did not change.
Read: White House Requests Buggy Ride For President’s UK Visit, Report Says
However, a Downing Street adviser told the Guardian on Sunday that Trump and May had a phone call recently, when he said he did not want to trigger public protests during his visit. May was surprised by his statement, the report added.
While the Guardian report said Trump’s state visit plans were put on hold indefinitely, the Times reported, citing two officials, the president is actually thinking of scrapping or postponing the planned visit. The daily also noted the president’s move comes amid criticism over his comments against London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s response to the June 3 terror attack in the city that killed eight civilians. After Khan responded to Trump, the president called the mayor of making a “pathetic excuse.”
Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of Britain’s Labour Party welcomed Trump’s decision not to visit the U.K.
“Cancellation of President Trump's State Visit is welcome, especially after his attack on London's mayor & withdrawal from #ParisClimateDeal,” Corbyn tweeted.
Despite the reports, a Downing Street representative told Politico on Sunday there was no change of plans in Trump’s visit.
“We aren’t going to comment on speculation about the contents of private phone conversations. The Queen extended an invitation to President Trump to visit the U.K. and there is no change to those plans,” the representative told Politico.
The White House also maintained the president and the British prime minister never spoke about the trip.
British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks as President Donald Trump looks on during their joint news conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., Jan. 27, 2017. Photo: Reuters/Carlos Barria
"The President has tremendous respect for Prime Minister May. That subject never came up on the call," an official told CNN.
Read: Meeting Trump Puts The Queen In 'Very Difficult Position'
Another official told the news outlet Trump was unfazed by the fact that he may be unpopular in London.
In February, Labour Party legislator Paul Flynn noted that only two U.S. presidents — George W. Bush and Barack Obama — were ever invited to state visits to the U.K. and maintained it was “completely unprecedented” that Trump was given this invitation within a week of his presidency.
State visits differ from official visits, and leaders of other nations are welcomed with royal and military ceremony. They stay at Buckingham Palace as the monarch’s guests. Bush and Obama were invited for the visits several years into their presidency.
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