Donald Trump was supposed to visit Britain next month to attend the opening of the new U.S. embassy in London, however late Thursday night he tweeted that he had decided to cancel his trip, blaming the Obama administration for “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.”
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018
The real motivation behind the cancellation is already being drawn into question, as there were rumblings of mass protests that would take place coinciding with the president’s visit. As a jab at his expense, on Friday the Madame Tussaud’s wax figure of Trump (seen in the above photo) was erected outside the new embassy.
Even more damning is that the tweet was just plain inaccurate. Although it’s well documented that Trump loves to blame Obama for anything and everything, it was actually the Bush administration that green-lit the sale of the old embassy in October of 2008 — one month before Obama was even elected. The decision to move the embassy from Grosvenor Square to its current location at Nine Elms was made after it was assessed that retrofitting the old building with updated security measures would be less efficient than building a modern facility.
In other words, Trump ya burnt. London mayor Sadiq Khan, who is one of Trump’s outspoken detractors, issued a statement in no uncertain terms that Londoners have made it clear that Trump is not welcome there.
Many Londoners have made it clear that Donald Trump is not welcome here while he is pursuing such a divisive agenda. It seems he’s finally got that message. pic.twitter.com/YD0ZHuWtr3
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) January 12, 2018
(Via CNN)