Trump Told Theresa May He Won’t Visit UK Until He’s Sure He’ll Get a Warm Welcome
U.S. President Donald Trump petulantly informed U.K. Prime Minister Teresa May that he won’t be making any official state visits to her country unless she can guarantee that people will be nice to him, according to reports.
“I haven’t had great coverage out there lately, Theresa,” Trump told May in a private conversation that was transcribed by aides and reported by senior diplomats to British newspaper The Sun.
May replied stiffly, “Well, you know what the British press are like.”
“I still want to come, but I’m in no rush,” Trump reportedly said to May. “So, if you can fix it for me, it would make things a lot easier.”
“When I know I’m going to get a better reception,” the president said, “I’ll come and not before.”
One of the Sun’s sources said that May “tried to explain she has no power to dictate how newspapers and media might decide to cover his visit.”
“After all,” the individual said. “We are not North Korea.”
Trump, the source said, simply would not agree on a date for a state visit until “people support him coming.”
Trump has been an object of scorn and derision to the majority of the British public. His ham-handed attempts to bend local laws to accommodate a Trump golf course in Scotland have alienated and angered locals. The U.K. Parliament featured a lively debate earlier this year over whether Trump should not only be disinvited from state visits, but whether he should be banned from the country altogether.