Donald Trump canceled his upcoming trip to the U.K. on Thursday, tweeting that he didn’t like the Obama administration’s “bad deal” to sell the old embassy location and build a new one: “Bad deal. Wanted me to cut ribbon-NO!” he said. (It was actually a “deal” that originated under President George W. Bush in 2008, largely due to security concerns.) But London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, who has sparred with Trump in the past, had a different explanation: Trump “got the message” from the United Kingdom, especially Londoners, that he was not welcome. Trump would have been met with “mass peaceful protests,” the mayor said in a statement on Twitter.
X content
Trump’s decision came after a wildly offensive comment he made Thursday about immigrants to the United States, asking why the country accepts migrants from “shithole countries” in Africa and elsewhere instead of countries like Norway. It was reminiscent of a statement he made late last year about Haiti, protections to migrants from which were discussed in Thursday’s DACA meeting and inspired his derogatory words, when he reportedly had then said that Haitians “all have AIDS,” and that once they arrived in the United States, Nigerians would likely never go back to their “huts.”
It’s no wonder that Trump would be wary of a trip to the United Kingdom. Currently led by a Conservative government helmed by Prime Minister Theresa May, London is a historically diverse city full of migrants, not unlike many in the United States. Trump might like to think that the same pseudo-populist rhetoric that swept him into office in his home country (typified by the seemingly racist “shithole” comment, which had newspapers scrambling to decide whether their standards would allow them to use the word in their headlines) would gain him favor in the U.K., which had a similar far-right victory with Brexit. But, as global leaders—including the government of Botswana—condemned Trump’s word choice from Thursday, perhaps he indeed “got” what former Labour leader Ed Miliband called “the message.”
X content
Khan, who is Muslim, has been a vocal critic of Trump since his proposed travel ban was announced nearly a year ago, and has since called on Theresa May not to extend an official invitation to him to visit the U.K. after the U.S. President shared anti-Muslim propaganda from Britain First, a far-right group.
Donald Trump said on Friday via Twitter that his word choice was “tough,” but denied using the specific language reported the day before. “I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians,” he said. “Probably should record future meetings - unfortunately, no trust!” Fortunately, we know what happened when he records himself, so we say: Roll the tape!