![The new American Embassy in Battersea Nine Elms. - [Image credit – Curran2 / Wikimedia Commons]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2018/1/12/660x290/b_502x220x82/the-new-american-embassy-in-battersea-nine-elms-image-credit-curran2-wikimedia-commons_1774043.jpg "The new American Embassy in Battersea Nine Elms. - [Image credit – Curran2 / Wikimedia Commons]")
In the opinion of Donald Trump, the new location of the US embassy at Nine Elms site, near Battersea in London was a bad deal. He has blamed the former Obama Administration for selecting the site even though records indicate that it had been initiated by the George W Bush administration in October 2008, before Barack Obama came to the scene.
Sky News reports that the building is due to open on January 16 to house the American diplomats and Donald Trump was scheduled to visit London on the occasion to declare it open. However, he has opted out, citing the reason for the "bad deal" and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will now carry out the ceremonial duties at the official opening.
London and Trump don’t mix
It may be recalled that British Prime Minister Theresa May was the first foreign leader to visit the US president Donald Trump in the White House. There were great expectations from both sides of improving relations but things did not proceed as desired and the relations soured because of Trump’s criticism of the British. Incidentally, his decision of not attending the opening ceremony of the new US embassy in London has had little effect on the people of Britain.
The reaction of Downing Street has been cautious. It has said that a state visit by the US president is very much in the cards because an invitation for such a visit has been extended and accepted. Of course, there was stiff opposition to it with an online petition of millions asking to cancel it and cautioning that there would be large-scale protests in case he does come.
MPs wanted the offer of a state visit to be withdrawn in view of his immigration policy against Muslim majority countries. However, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has indicated that the state visit will not be scrapped.
Why Britain does not like Trump?
The relation between Britain and Trump had turned sour after a Twitter war following the London terror attack in June 2017 when a van drove into people on the bridge.
It left seven dead and 48 wounded and led to unpleasant exchanges between Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, and Donald Trump, the president of the United States. This could be a reason of why he chose to give the new US embassy a miss.
According to the Guardian, the president had criticized the mayor, which did not go down well with the British.
Sadiq Khan wanted the government to cancel the planned state visit till such time Trump revoked the travel ban on people from some Muslim dominated countries. Moreover, there was an online petition signed by nearly two million people who wanted the state visit to be canceled with fears of protests if he did come. These added up to give rise to the ill feeling.
