The US embassy in London was shifted from Grosvenor Square, Mayfair to its new location in Nine Elms, south of the Thames in January. On that occasion, the presence of Donald Trump would have made a lot of difference but that did not happen. He refused to go because he felt the relocation was an incorrect decision that had been taken by the earlier administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
Sky News reports that Trump has raked up the issue again while speaking at a rally in Michigan. He has said that the new US Embassy in London was in a "lousy" location, and added that the previous location was the best in London.
Arguments of Trump
Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Britain on Friday 13 July. At the rally, he explained that he was supposed to visit London earlier to open the new embassy but he did not agree to go because he was not happy with the change in location. He criticized it as an incorrect decision. At that time, there was speculation that the reason for the cancellation lay elsewhere. There were fears of large-scale protests in London if he did arrive.
Shifting of the US embassy from Grosvenor Square was initiated by the administration of George W. Bush and was made public in October 2008, shortly before Barack Obama took over. Trump said that, according to information available, the Mayfair site had been sold for $250m and the cost of the new setup runs to over a billion dollars.
The London Underground will add a new branch line to facilitate public transportation to the new location of the embassy.
BBC adds that one of the reasons for moving the embassy from Mayfair was its size. It was considered to be too small to install a modern security system that had become necessary in view of newer threat perceptions.
The embassy in Vauxhall was opened on 16 January 2018.
Sadiq Khan rakes up an old issue
London mayor Sadiq Khan has raked up an old issue related to the Twitter war between him and Donald Trump. It was after the terror attack on London Bridge in which seven persons were killed. At that time, Londoners had taken to the social media to vent their ire and threatened to resort to protests in case Trump arrived in London to open the US embassy.
Since Trump plans to go there now, the Mayor has suggested that it would be in the fitness of things if he tenders an apology for his earlier actions. Sadiq Khan has indicated to a section of the media that demonstrations are inevitable during the visit and he wants them to be peaceful and lawful.
