US president told Theresa May he did not want trip to go ahead if there were large-scale public protests • Support our journalism by becoming a Guardian supporter or making a contribution

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Donald Trump has told Theresa May in a phone call he does not want to go ahead with a state visit to Britain until the British public supports him coming.

The US president said he did not want to come if there were large-scale protests and his remarks in effect put the visit on hold for some time.

The Guardian view on Trump’s state visit to the UK: his invitation should be rescinded | Editorial Read more

The call was made in recent weeks, according to a Downing Street adviser who was in the room. The statement surprised May, according to those present.

The conversation in part explains why there has been little public discussion about a visit.

May invited Trump to Britain seven days after his inauguration when she became the first foreign leader to visit him in the White House. She told a joint press conference she had extended an invitation from the Queen to Trump and his wife Melania to make a state visit later in the year and was “delighted that the president has accepted that invitation”.

Many senior diplomats, including Lord Ricketts, the former national security adviser, said the invitation was premature, but impossible to rescind once made.

Trump has named Woody Johnson, a Republican donor and owner of the New York Jets, as the new ambassador to the UK but has yet to nominate him formally. A large number of US ambassadorial positions remain unfilled worldwide largely due to the Trump team failing to make any formal nominations.

The acting US ambassador to the UK, Lewis Lukens, a career diplomat, clashed with Trump last week by praising Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, for his strong leadership over the London Bridge and Borough Market terror attack.

So Trump’s too scared to come to the UK. Who says protest doesn’t work? | Hugh Muir Read more

His remarks came just days after Trump criticised Khan for his response to the attack, misquoting the mayor’s message to Londoners not to be alarmed by the increased presence of armed police.

Khan’s office pointed out Trump’s error later but the president responded by accusing London’s mayor of making a “pathetic excuse”. Khan then called on the UK government to cancel Trump’s invitation. No date had been fixed for the visit.

The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, said on Twitter that Trump’s decision was “welcome, especially after his attack on London’s mayor & withdrawal from #ParisClimateDeal.”

A Downing Street spokeswoman said it would not comment. “We aren’t going to comment on speculation about the contents of private phone conversations. The Queen extended an invitation to President Trump to visit the UK and there is no change to those plans.”

The White House said in statement: “The President has tremendous respect for Prime Minister May. That subject never came up on the call.”

Jenna Johnson, a Washington Post reporter tweeted to say that the White House press secretary had told her the Guardian’s report was “false” but added that the White House “won’t say when Trump plans to go to the UK”.

Later, The New York Times, citing two unnamed administration officials, reported that Trump was considering scrapping or postponing the trip. The officials stressed that he might yet “warm to the idea” but that keeping it off the schedule was the best approach.

Contact the Guardian securely Read more

The UK’s traditional effort to act as a bridge between the US and Europe has become more complex since the vote last year to leave the European Union and Trump’s support for policies that have angered European allies.



The Foreign Office was disappointed when against its pleading Trump went ahead earlier this month with his plan to pull the US out of the Paris climate accord. The UK had lobbied hard for Trump not to take the decision, which has led to a wider break between the EU and the US.

Trump had been an advocate of Brexit, and at one point seemed to want the EU to break up, but confidence has since returned to the bloc with pro-European Emmanuel Macron’s victory over far-right Marine Le Pen in the French presidential election.

Additional reporting by Ben Jacobs.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — Punching back a day after his fired FBI director’s damaging testimony, President Donald Trump accused James Comey of lying to Congress and said he was “100 percent” willing to testify under oath about their conversations.

Trump cryptically refused to say whether those private exchanges were taped — a matter at the heart of the conflicting accounts of what passed between them at a time when Comey was leading an FBI investigation into Russia’s interference in the presidential election and its ties to the Trump campaign.

He asserted that nothing in Comey’s testimony to the Senate pointed to collusion with Russia or obstruction of justice. “Yesterday showed no collusion, no obstruction,” Trump said.

He further denied ever asking Comey for his “loyalty,” contradicting Comey’s detailed sworn testimony about a private dinner the two men had in the White House.

“No I didn’t say that,” Trump stated abruptly, taking questions Friday at a joint press conference with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis in the Rose Garden. Asked if he would make that denial under oath, he said, “100 percent.”

Trump’s aides have dodged questions about whether conversations relevant to the Russia investigation have been recorded, and so did the president, in a series of teases.

“Well, I’ll tell you about that maybe sometime in the very near future,” Trump said. Pressed on the issue, he insisted he wasn’t “hinting anything,” before adding, “Oh you’re going to be very disappointed when you hear the answer, don’t worry.”

The House intelligence committee sent a letter Friday asking White House counsel Don McGahn whether any tape recordings or memos of Comey’s conversations with the president exist now or had existed in the past. The committee also sent a letter to Comey asking for any notes or memos in his possession about the discussions he had with Trump before being abruptly fired last month. The committee is seeking the materials by June 23.

Comey told the Senate intelligence committee Thursday about several one-on-one interactions with the president, during which he said Trump pressed him to show “loyalty,” to back off on the FBI investigation of his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and to disclose that Trump himself was not under investigation.

Comey said he refused on all points, told senators of the detailed memos he had written after his conversations with Trump and said he hoped those conversations were taped because he is confident of their veracity.

Standing with the president of Romania, a NATO partner, Trump at last confirmed his commitment to the alliance’s mutual defense pact, Article 5, uttering words he deliberately did not say when he spoke at NATO’s gathering in Belgium last month. On Friday he said he was “committing the United States to Article 5.”

He also accused Qatar, a key U.S. military partner, of funding terrorism “at a very high level,” and said solving the problem in the tiny Persian Gulf nation could be “the beginning of the end of terrorism.” It was a forceful endorsement of this week’s move by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to cut off ties to Qatar, but a very different message from the one delivered just an hour before by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Tillerson had called on the Arab nations to immediately ease their blockade on Qatar.

Trump also saluted the United States’ relationship with Romania and praised its contribution to the global fight against terror.

The president had previewed his attacks against Comey in an early-morning tweet that broke his previous day’s silence on his favorite social media megaphone.

“Despite so many false statements and lies, total and complete vindication,” Trump wrote. It was a stunning accusation, suggesting that the former FBI director had lied to Congress, while under oath.

He also seized on Comey’s revelation that he had directed a friend to release contents of memos he’d written documenting his conversations with the president to a reporter.

“…and WOW, Comey is a leaker!” Trump wrote at 6:10 a.m. He derisively repeated the “leaker” moniker when speaking to reporters in the Rose Garden.

Trump’s private attorney, Marc Kasowitz, seized on Comey’s admission that he had orchestrated the public release of the information. Kasowitz is expected to file a complaint with the Justice Department inspector general next week, according to a person close to the legal team who agreed to speak before the filing on condition that the person’s name is not used.

Sen. Richard Burr, the Republican chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, and Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the committee, both said Thursday they believed Comey’s account of the events.

“And I think you saw today the overwhelming majority of the intel members, Democrats and Republicans, feel that Jim Comey is credible. Even folks who have been his critics don’t question his integrity, his commitment to the rule of law and his intelligence,” Warner said.

Associated Press writers Julie Pace, Mary Clare Jalonick, Josh Lederman and Deb Riechmann contributed to this report.</s>The attorney generals of Maryland and the District of Columbia say they will sue Donald Trump, alleging he has violated the US constitution by taking payments from foreign governments as president.

Maryland attorney general Brian Frosh outlined details of the lawsuit in an interview with The Associated Press. Much of it is focused on alleged violations of the emoluments clause of the US constitution, based on Mr Trump's real estate holdings.

The clause prohibits the president and other government employees from accepting foreign gifts and payments without congressional approval.

The Trump Hotel in the nation's capital affects business in the Washington area and is part of the reason the lawsuit was filed by officials in the District of Columbia and Maryland, Mr Frosh said.

"We have economic interests that are impacted, but the most salient factor is that when the president is subject to foreign influence, we have to be concerned about whether the actions he's taking - both at home and abroad - are the result of payments that he is receiving at the Trump Hotel, payments that he is receiving at Mar-a-Lago, payments that he is receiving at Trump Tower, payments that he is receiving in all of his other far-flung enterprises, and he brags about it," Mr Frosh said.

Mr Frosh and District of Columbia attorney general Karl Racine have scheduled a news conference to announce the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also focuses on the fact that Mr Trump chose to retain ownership of his company when he became president. Mr Trump said he was shifting assets into a trust managed by his sons to eliminate potential conflicts of interests.

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday. The president called an earlier, similar lawsuit about the emoluments issue "without merit, totally without merit".

If a federal judge allows the case to proceed, Mr Racine and Mr Frosh say they will demand copies of Mr Trump's personal tax returns in court to gauge the extent of his foreign business dealings.

Mr Trump's unique status as both president and the financial beneficiary of his global business empire raised questions about the little-known emoluments clause of the constitution even before he took office.

Mr Trump and his lawyers argue the clause does not cover fair-value transactions, such as hotel room payments and real estate sales.

The attorneys general are not the first to sue Mr Trump over emoluments. Just days after Mr Trump's inauguration in January, the government watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a federal lawsuit in the Southern District of New York. Since then, a restaurant group and two individuals in the hotel industry have joined as plaintiffs.

The Justice Department said on Friday that those plaintiffs did not suffer in any way and had no standing to sue, and that it is unconstitutional to sue the president in his official capacity.</s>US President Donald Trump (L) and Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May walk at the start of the NATO summit at their new headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, May 25, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Prime Minister Theresa May's office said on Sunday there had been no change to plans for US President Donald Trump's to come to Britain on a state visit after the Guardian newspaper reported the trip had been postponed.

The paper, citing an unidentified adviser at May's Downing Street office who was in the room at the time, reported Trump had told May by telephone in recent weeks that he did not want to come if there were likely to be large-scale protests.

"The statement surprised May, according to those present. The conversation in part explains why there has been little public discussion about a visit," says a part of the Guardian article.

"We aren’t going to comment on speculation about the contents of private phone conversations," a spokeswoman for May's office said. "The queen extended an invitation to President Trump to visit the UK and there is no change to those plans."

The White House also denied the Guardian report, with an administration official telling Reuters, "The subject never came up on the call."

No date has been set for the visit, which was agreed during May's visit to Washington in January, but British media had reported it was planned for October.

May's hold on power has been significantly weakened since the results of a snap election last week cost her Conservative Party a parliamentary majority. In a bid to save her position, May has been trying to form a government with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), a small faction of social conservatives.

British politics is going through an upheaval just a week before talks begin on Britain's exit from the European Union (EU), set for 2019.



Public criticism by Trump earlier this month of London Mayor Sadiq Khan's response to the London terror attacks was condemned in Britain. May found herself forced to defend Khan, who is from the opposition Labour party.



















Public criticism by Trump earlier this month of London Mayor Sadiq Khan's response to the London terror attacks was condemned in Britain. May found herself forced to defend Khan, who is from the opposition Labour party.



Khan late last month said May should withdraw the state visit invitation to Trump over his extremely hostile views on Muslims and the immigrants.



In an exclusive interview with Geo News earlier, the mayor said Trump stands against the American and British values of tolerance, humanity, and goodwill. “There is no need to invite Donald Trump on a state visit. His policies on Muslims and refugees are dangerous for the world," Khan said.

The mayor had advised May to be courageous and tell Trump that the ban on Muslims and refugees is wrong. Rolling out the red carpet may send out "a worrying signal to the world", Khan stressed.

At that time, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said there was no reason to cancel the visit, while White House spokesman Sean Spicer said that Trump intended to go and that "he appreciates Her Majesty's gracious invitation".

More recently, however, the London mayor hit back at Trump after the latter's uncalled-for criticism, reiterating that the American president’s visit to Britain should be cancelled.

Speaking to Channel 4 News, Khan said Trump was had been wrong about “many things” and the government should cancel his state visit to the UK, which is expected in October.

After the June 5 London attacks, Donald Trump took to Twitter to criticise the mayor, blaming him for making excuses in the wake of continuous attacks in London.

Khan had said in one of his first statements in reaction to the attack that people would see an increased police presence on the streets of the capital and should not be alarmed by that, which Trump had taken out of context to criticise him.



Interestingly, a petition demanding Trump’s visit be cancelled – as it will be an embarrassment to the Queen of England – reached more than a million signatures in January.

The petition surged exponentially in popularity, passing the 100,000-signature necessary to have it considered in the Parliament. “At one point more than a thousand people [signed] each minute,” a British media outlet reported.</s>London: UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s office said on Sunday there had been no change to plans for U.S. President Donald Trump's to come to Britain on a state visit, after the Guardian newspaper reported the trip had been postponed.

The paper, citing an unidentified adviser at May's Downing Street office who was in the room at the time, reported Trump had told May by telephone in recent weeks that he did not want to come if there were likely to be large-scale protests.

“We aren’t going to comment on speculation about the contents of private phone conversations,” a spokeswoman for May's office said. "The queen extended an invitation to President Trump to visit the UK and there is no change to those plans."

The White House also denied the Guardian report, with an administration official telling Reuters, "The subject never came up on the call."

No date has been set for the visit, which was agreed during May's visit to Washington in January, but British media had reported it was planned for October.

May's hold on power has been significantly weakened since the results of a snap election last week cost her Conservative Party a parliamentary majority. In a bid to save her position, May has been trying to form a government with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, a small faction of social conservatives.

British politics is going through an upheaval just a week before talks begin on Britain's exit from the European Union, set for 2019.

Trump's public criticism this month of London Mayor Sadiq Khan's response to an attack by Islamist militants in London was condemned in Britain. May found herself forced to defend Khan, who is from the opposition Labour party.

At that time, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said there was no reason to cancel the visit, while White House spokesman Sean Spicer said that Trump intended to go and that "he appreciates Her Majesty's gracious invitation".</s>LONDON: Soon after a newspaper claimed a possible postponement in the US President Donald Trump 's state visit to Britain, a 10 Downing Street spokesperson on Sunday clarified that there is no change in plans in Trump's arrival.A report in the Guardian claimed that Trump has told British Prime Minister Theresa May in a phone call that he does not want to go ahead with a state visit to Britain until the British public supports him coming -- citing a Downing Street adviser who was in the room."We aren't going to comment on speculation about the contents of private phone conversations. The Queen extended an invitation to President Trump to visit the UK and there is no change to those plans," Xinhua quoted the Downing Street spokesperson as saying.May invited Trump to Britain seven days after his inauguration when she became the first foreign leader to visit him in the White House.</s>Donald Trump’s popularity in Great Britain has taken some recent hits after he withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement and trashed London Mayor Sadiq Khan following the London Bridge terror attacks that killed eight people and injured nearly 50 more. Khan responded by calling for the cancellation of Trump’s upcoming state visit (which was planned for an indefinite date), and British Prime Minister Theresa May didn’t make a public determination on the matter. However, The Guardian reports that Trump has put the visit on ice until he manages to improve his image across the pond.

So … never? Trump used a terror attack against one of America’s closest allies to promote and justify his “travel ban.” And Brits — who are dealing with not only that event but uncertainty within the Brexit mess (that Trump supported while not understanding the implications) — aren’t likely to soon dismiss their disgust. Trump is apparently aware of this, and this report about a leaked phone call with May reveals his fear of “large-scale protests” on the streets. Oh, those persistent leaks:

Donald Trump has told Theresa May in a phone call he does not want to go ahead with a state visit to Britain until the British public supports him coming. The US president said he did not want to come if there were large-scale protests and his remarks in effect put the visit on hold for some time. The call was made in recent weeks, according to a Downing Street adviser who was in the room. The statement surprised May, according to those present.

The report was followed by silence from the White House and (for what it’s worth) a denial from Theresa May’s Downing Street office. A spokeswoman told Reuters that May would not comment upon the phone call report but emphasized that the queen invited Trump to visit, and “and there is no change to those plans.” Yet since there was never a date announced for Trump’s supposed visit, a postponement is easy to deny.

Meanwhile, MP Jeremy Corbyn (whose Labour Party gave May a huge surprise that has sent her scrambling to secure her power after last week’s election) has declared that a cancellation of Trump’s visit would be “welcome.”</s>Donald Trump has told Theresa May he does not want to go ahead with his controversial state visit to the UK if it is going to lead to large-scale demonstrations, according to a report.

The Guardian said the US president had said he wanted to be sure he had the support of the British public before coming to the country.

His comments - effectively putting the visit on hold - were said to have been made in a telephone call made in "recent weeks".

The paper quoted a No 10 adviser "who was in the room" at the time as saying that Mrs May had been "surprised" by his remarks.

Downing Street refused to comment, saying only that the invitation which was given by Mrs May on behalf of the Queen when she met Mr Trump in Washington just seven days after his inauguration, remained unchanged.

A spokesman said: "We aren't going to comment on speculation about the contents of private phone conversations. The Queen extended an invitation to President Trump to visit the UK and there is no change to those plans."

The decision to accord such a controversial president the honour of a state visit so soon after taking office was widely criticised at the time.

There was further criticism after Mr Trump attacked London Mayor Sadiq Khan over his response to the latest terror attacks on the capital.

When Mr Khan's office said he had simply been saying people should not be alarmed by the additional police presence on the streets, Mr Trump accused him of making "pathetic excuses" prompting the mayor to call for the visit to be dropped.</s>The White House has denied a report that US President Donald Trump plans to delay his state visit to the United Kingdom over fears of potential protests and his perceived unpopularity.

According to a report by the Guardian on Sunday, Trump revealed his unease during a conversation with British Prime Minister Theresa May in recent weeks, according to a Downing Street adviser who was in the room.

But a senior Trump administration source denied that the subject ever came up when Trump and May spoke on Friday in the aftermath of the British general election.

"The President has tremendous respect for Prime Minister May. That subject never came up on the call," the official told CNN.

A second senior US administration official also dismissed the Guardian report, acknowledging that Trump may never be popular in London and isn't fazed by that.

No official date was ever set for the visit. A Downing Street spokesman refused to comment on what he called "speculation about the contents of private phone conversation."

"The Queen extended an invitation to President Trump to visit the UK and there is no change to those plans," the spokesman added.

May extended the invite to Trump on behalf of the Queen just a week after his inauguration, a move that was heavily criticized in the UK.

Trump has become increasingly unpopular in Britain in recent days. His vociferous Twitter attack on London Mayor Sadiq Khan in the wake of the London Bridge terrorist attack last weekend drew condemnation from across the British political spectrum. Khan then called on the British government to cancel Trump's visit.

On Sunday, opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn voiced his support for canceling Trump's trip.

Corbyn tweeted: "Cancellation of President Trump's State Visit is welcome, especially after his attack on London's mayor & withdrawal from #ParisClimateDeal."

The arrival of Trump in Britain anytime soon is unlikely to be welcomed by May, who is fighting for her political life following a disastrous general election Thursday that wiped out her party's majority in Parliament and prompted calls for her to resign.

In February this year, the British government formally rejected an online petition calling for Trump's state visit to the UK to be canceled or downgraded. The petition had garnered more than 1.8 million signatures.</s>US President Donald Trump has reportedly decided to postpone his state visit to the UK over fears that he could face mass protests, it emerged on Sunday 11 June.

The Republican property-tycoon apparently phoned Prime Minister Theresa May over recent weeks to tell her that he did not want to go ahead with the trip. "The statement surprised May, according to those present," a Downing Street adviser told The Guardian.

But Number 10 has played down the report, telling IBTimes UK that the plans have not changed.

"We aren't going to comment on speculation about the contents of private phone conversations. The Queen extended an invitation to President Trump to visit the UK and there is no change to those plans," a Downing Street spokesperson said.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has said that Trump is "clearly terrified" of the British public.

"He knows that the British people find his politics appalling and that they won't be scared to make their views known," he said.

"Theresa May should be embarrassed that she was so quick to offer Trump a state visit. Now neither of them want to be seen with the other."

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who promised to tell Trump that he is wrong over pulling out of the Paris climate deal if he was elected prime minister, also welcomed the news.

"[The] cancellation of President Trump's state visit is welcome, especially after his attack on London's mayor [Sadiq Khan] and withdrawal from the Paris climate deal," the left-wing leader told his Twitter followers.

Trump faced a backlash for his criticism of Khan following the London Bridge terror attack in June.

The US president wrote on Twitter: "Pathetic excuse by London Mayor Sadiq Khan who had to think fast on his 'no reason to be alarmed' statement. MSM is working hard to sell it!"

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, threw his support behind Khan in reaction to Trump's comments.

"Mayor Sadiq Khan is a very positive example to the Western world of someone who came from the Muslim community and has become a leader of all communities and he's a very positive example to peace-loving Muslims and Muslims who believe in democracy all over the world," he said.

More than 1.8 million people in the UK backed a petition in February in bid to block Trump's state visit to Britain.

"Donald Trump should be allowed to enter the UK in his capacity as head of the US Government, but he should not be invited to make an official State Visit because it would cause embarrassment to Her Majesty the Queen," the petition said.

The move led to a debate between MPs in Westminster Hall, with House of Commons Speaker John Bercow vowing to block the US President from addressing the politicians in parliament. Elsewhere, Trump said the UK general election result, which saw the Conservatives fail to win a majority, was "surprising".
The Guardian reports that U.S. President Donald Trump has postponed his visit to the United Kingdom, according to a U.K. adviser who said Mr. Trump recently telephoned 10 Downing Street with this information. Both Prime Minister Theresa May's office and the White House deny this report.