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U.S. President Donald Trump has cancelled his long-planned state visit to the United Kingdom over fears he may not not be well received.
British Prime Minister Theresa May had invited Trump just days after his inauguration in January 2017. Since then, British MPs have dropped plans for Trump to address parliament, and political opposition in the U.K. has only grown over the first year of Trump’s administration.
Trump was scheduled to visit London on an official state trip next month, when he was expected to formally open a new $1 billion U.S. embassy complex in Nine Elms, southwest London.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is now expected to commission the 12-storey, 518,000-square foot embassy, described as a “state of the art fortress”.
On why he suspended the trip, Trump tweeted early Friday: “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!”