Trump cancels UK trip over bad deal embassy
Washington Jan 12 (IANS) US President Donald Trump has cancelled his trip to Britain due to disappointment over a "bad" US embassy.
He tweeted late on Thursday that he was not a big fan of the Obama administration that 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 Xinhua news agency reported.
"Bad deal " Trump said adding "wanted me to cut ribbon -- NO!"
The trans-Atlantic alliance between the US and Britain has been shaky ever since Trump assumed the presidency in January. His proposal of a strict ban on Muslim immigration has sparked wide controversy in Britain.
Matters got even worse when Trump re-tweeted video posts of a British ultra-rightist group targeting Muslim immigrants in November.
Under domestic pressure British Prime Minister Theresa May said Trump s re-tweeting was wrong triggering the latter s retort demanding her not to focus on him but on anti-terrorism efforts in her own nation.
Trump s statement further irritated London as many people and government officials asked May to withdraw her invitation to Trump to pay a state visit.
The two countries have also seen huge differences on multiple issues like Trump s retreat from the Paris climate accord his decision regarding Jerusalem at the end of 2017 and his refusal to certify Iran s compliance with the historic Iran nuclear deal in October.
--IANS
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