TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/UK: “President Donald Trump said he is canceling a planned trip to the U.K., long intended to be his first official visit to the country, the latest suggestion of strained relations between the U.S. and Britain.
Mr. Trump confirmed in a Twitter message that the visit wouldn’t take place, hours after British newspapers reported the change in plans and attributed the move to the U.S. leader’s desire to avoid protests.
He had been set to attend the official opening of the new U.S. Embassy in London, but controversy has surrounded the plans since he sparred with Prime Minister Theresa May after she criticized him in late November when he retweeted messages from a British far-right group.
The frosty relations between the U.K and the U.S. are uncomfortable for Mrs. May, whose government has sought to court support from Mr. Trump—one of the few world leaders who supported Brexit—as it negotiates its exit from the European Union…
A British official on Friday [1-12-18] said that the U.K. hadn’t been aware of a scheduled date for the president’s visit and that the issue was a matter between the U.S. Embassy and the administration. ‘We were never informed of a date for the visit—it’s not something we ever set out,’ the official said. The official said the invitation for a state visit is still open.”
–Louise Radnofsky, Felicia Schwartz, and Jenny Gross, “Trump Calls Off Planned Trip to London,” The Wall Street Journal online, Jan. 12, 2018 01:20am