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British Twitter reacts to Donald Trump backing out of London visit
President’s excuse for cancelling embassy trip met with mockery online
President Donald Trump’s cancellation of a planned visit to the UK next month to open the new US embassy isn’t breaking too many hearts on British Twitter.
In fact, many of Trump’s UK detractors - including Labour MP David Lammy - rejoiced to learn that the controversial commander-in-chief would no longer be on ribbon-cutting duty in London next month:
Although those who had been eagerly anticipating the planned mass demonstrations outside the new embassy were a tad disappointed:
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Other tweeters helpfully suggested other destinations for the President not to visit:
And one user had an idea for an alternative trip:
Trump’s stated reason for the cancellation was his dissatisfaction with Barack Obama’s sale of the former embassy site (a deal which, as many commenters pointed out, was actually struck in 2008 during the Bush administration).
The logic struck many as thoroughly unconvincing:
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Prompting Twitter users to share their own tongue-in-cheek excuses for giving their own planned excursions a miss:
The new embassy, a high-security fortress in Battersea which cost an estimated $1bn, will now be opened by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
But just in case any Brits were actually looking forward to seeing Trump at the US embassy, waxwork museum Madame Tussauds transported their model of the president across town to provide the next best thing:
