Trump’s UK Visit Postponed: Fallout from Twitter Spat with Theresa May
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)
The London Telegraph broke the story, saying “US diplomats have dropped plans for Donald Trump to conduct a visit to Britain in January amid a war of words between” both leaders.
He was scheduled to come in January for a “working visit” - to preside over the opening of Washington’s new London embassy - scaled back from a state visit to minimize street protests while he’s there.
According to the Telegraph, “the trip has been pushed into the long grass, with no new date in the diary picked.”
“A senior US diplomat said: ‘The idea of a visit has obviously been floated, but not December and not January.’ “
A spat with May occurred after Trump retweeted Islamophobic videos posted by far-right UK group Britain First deputy leader Jayda Fransen. Theresa May called it “wrong” to share this type material.
Tory Justice Minister Sam Gyimah said he’d feel “deeply uncomfortable” if Trump came as scheduled, adding he “definitely crossed a line…Theresa May was right to rebuke him. Other UK politicians called for his visit to be cancelled.
Responding to May’s criticism, Trump retweeted the videos, saying she should focus on dealing with terrorism in Britain.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd said his visit was never “completely organized. We have yet to make the arrangements.”
Trump’s tweets at times ignite a firestorm of critical responses, certainly this time. Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn, Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, and other MPs slammed him for retweeting the offensive videos.
They called for cancelling his visit. While visiting despotic Middle East countries, including Saudi Arabia, May ignored the terrorist threat they pose, along with Britain supplying them with weapons used for homeland repression and war on Yemen, instead focused on “dealing with extremist material” from far-right groups like Britain First.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump didn’t know who Jayda Fransen was when he retweeted her videos, adding:
“I think what he’s done is elevate the conversation to talk about a real issue and a real threat and that’s extreme violence and extreme terrorism, something that we know to be very real and something the president feels strongly about talking about and bringing up and making sure is an issue every single day.”
Trump’s offensive tweets and other disturbing actions strained bilateral relations with Britain and other countries.
Handling the terrorist threat begins at home, including in London, other NATO capitals, and Middle East ones, notably Riyadh and Tel Aviv.
ISIS, al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups didn’t emerge like Topsy. They were made in the USA, aided by its rogue allies.
Ending the threat they pose begins at home in all complicit Western and other capitals.
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