Theresa May says Trump 'welcome' in UK as he cancels London trip (but no-one's buying the reason he's given)

The UK Government has lashed out at critics of US President Donald Trump after he cancelled a planned visit to Britain.

Prime Minister Theresa May said Mr Trump was ‘welcome’ in the country, despite the US leader claiming he would not come to London.

It was previously understood the the President’s his first visit to the UK as leader would take place in February to open the new US embassy.

But Mr Trump said this morning that he would not be coming after all – because he was unhappy wit the cost of the building and its location.

The decision soon turned political as it immediately prompted a backlash by Trump critics, who argued he was really avoiding planned protests – and some claimed he was even too scared to travel to London.

Trump supporters in Britain said protesters were threatening the UK’s relationship with the US.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson pointed the finger at Labour’s leader Jeremy Corbyn and London mayor Sadiq Khan, accusing them of threatening the trade relationship between Britain and the US.

Mr Trump was due to open the new £886 million US embassy in London’s Nine Elms after the move from its prestigious Grosvenor Square in Mayfair.

But writing on Twitter, he said thought the embassy’s move was a ‘bad deal’ and would not visit arguably America’s closest ally – long considered to to have a ‘special relationship’ with Washington.

He tweeted: ‘Reason I cancelled my trip to London is that I am not a big fan of the Obama Administration having sold perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for “peanuts,” only to build a new one in an off location for 1.2 billion dollars.

‘Bad deal. Wanted me to cut ribbon-NO!’

That excuse did not convince many people, especially those on social media, who claimed he was not heading to the UK to avoid huge demonstrations.

London mayor Sadiq Khan – who has clashed with the president in the past – was one of those not buying that excuse.

Mr Khan said: ‘It appears that President Trump got the message from the many Londoners who love and admire America and Americans but find his policies and actions the polar opposite of our city’s values of inclusion, diversity and tolerance.

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‘His visit next month would without doubt have been met by mass peaceful protests.’

Former Labour leader Ed Miliband also took to Twitter to claim that Mr Trump was not welcome in the UK.

He told the US leader that the reason the visit was cancelled was because nobody in the UK ‘wanted you to come’.

And another Labour colleague, MP Stephen Doughty said the trip was cancelled because of Trump’s unpopular ‘racist, sexist, unthinking behaviour’.

And Brendan Cox, widower of murdered Labour MP Jo Cox, echoed suggestions that the protests may have been the real reason for the visit’s cancellation.

He tweeted: “That is totally plausible Donald… Nothing to do with what would have been the biggest protests since the Iraq War.”

Others took to social media to claim Trump was really avoiding the planned protests. Some Twitter users claimed he was ‘too scared’ to visit and others compared his planned visit to the UK to that of other countries he has visited.

Some even accused the president of being a ‘massive coward’ – and others even claimed they wanted to ‘throw eggs’ at the US president.

Countries which Mr Trump has visited since taking office last year include Saudi Arabia, Israel, France, Poland, Germany, Japan, Thailand, China and South Korea.

One group even claimed he was too frightened to meet protesting British women other went further on Twitter and claimed the US president was ‘running s**t scared’ .

Others used humour and said tthose pleased he won’t come, include the Queen.

Supporters of Trump though said his refusal to visit London was a shame and reflected badly on the British public, including Mr Johnson, who appeared to open a new front in the row following the president’s decision.

The new embassy opens on January 16. It appears that Mr Trump may have got his dates wrong over who ordered the US moving to a new London embassy.

Despite Mr Trump publicly blaming predecessor Barack Obama, the US announced plans to move to the new site in October 2008 – when George W Bush was in the White House.

Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, an ally of the US President, suggested that concerns about protests may have been the real reason for the visit’s cancellation.

“It’s disappointing – he has been to countries all over the world and yet he has not been to the one with whom he is closest,” Mr Farage said.