In June, news reports suggested Donald Trump and his staff were considering possibly delaying a planned state visit to the United Kingdom. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer later denied this as false, especially since the stories indicated the president was worried about possible protests against his presence by the British public, but the news eventually gave way to Trump’s latest scandals. Almost a month later, however, a new batch of rumors hints that the president may attempt to sneak in a snap visit to 10 Downing Street sometime next week.
Per separate reports in The Guardian and The Times of London, British government officials revealed the White House has warned them Trump could squeeze in a quick stop in London after this week’s G-20 summit in Hamburg and before attending the Bastille Day parade in Paris on July 14th. The U.K. isn’t located between Germany and France, of course, but with a planned stop at his golf resort in Turnberry, Scotland after the G-20 meeting, Trump will have “several days to kill, a long time in politics.” He could presumably fly back to the United States then to France, of course, but these rumors suggest otherwise.
Both the White House and 10 Downing Street were quick to quell the reports. Sarah Huckabee Sanders described them as “not accurate,” whereas Theresa May’s spokesperson told journalists, “I am not aware of any plans for the president to visit the U.K. in the next few weeks.” Even so, Guardian columnist and activist Owen Jones helped the story go viral on Sunday, asking his followers to spread the information in a tweet “if you’re willing to commit to protesting this bigot at short notice.”
(Via New York Times)