Trump cancels UK visit… so much for the ‘special relationship’

January 12, 2018 at 12:09

Hardly anyone will buy President Donald Trump’s explanation for his abruptly canceled visit to London next month. The real reason, no doubt, was to avoid embarrassing scenes of mass street protests marring his official welcome.

Whatever has become of the so-called “special relationship”?

Nigel Farage, the former UKIP leader and one of the few British politicians who has openly befriended Trump, expressed embarrassment: “It’s disappointing. He’s been to countries all over the world and yet he’s not been to the one with whom he’s closest. I think it’s disappointing,” Farage told the BBC on the back of news over Trump’s cancelation.

The United States and Britain have long flattered each other with declarations of having a “special relationship” – a phrase first coined by Winston Churchill during his postwar trip to the US in 1946.

Given that Britain is America’s supposedly closest international ally, what does it say about Washington’s present standing in the world when the president is obliged to call off his visit – out of concerns that he’s not welcome by the British public?

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