US Ambassador says Donald Trump WILL come to the UK in the new year
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The US Ambassador to London believes Donald Trump will come to the UK in the new year - and he could face a very unusual protest if he does.
Ambassador Woody Johnson says he hopes the President will come to London early next year to officially open the new US Embassy, which is nearing completion.
And he defended the President for sparking outrage across the UK by sharing videos posted by hate group Britain First with his 44 million Twitter followers.
Johnson told the BBC: “He wants to protect Americans, and he’s doing his best to do that. He’s not going to go down the path of a lot of politicians and maybe be namby pamby about it.
“He’s going to come out and take some chances in an effort to do that, to accomplish that security goal. Maybe he’ll ruffle feathers. There’s no question that feathers were ruffled with that. But I think you have confidence, look down the road, things are going to happen.”
(Image: REUTERS)
Asked if the President would be coming to the UK, he said: “Absolutely. I think he will come. I hope he will come.”
He said a date had not been officially announced, but he added that the invitation for an official state visit had been extended and accepted and that “this building has to be dedicated.”
But Labour MP Stella Creasy said the US President will be greeted by a wave of protests if he crosses the Atlantic - and some may be quite unusual.
(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)
She told Radio 4’s Today Programme: “I think there are some very creative ways we can all show our concern.
“I think we can echo what the protesters are doing in America. I’ll be wearing shocking pink if Donald Trump comes to Britain to show my support for the women’s march.
“For goodness sake, this country wouldn’t let Martha Stewart in because we said it wasn’t conducive to the public good.”
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Asked how he deals with the President’s erratic tweeting, Johnson, who owns the New York Jets NFL team, said he drew inspiration from his career in professional sports management.
He said: “I try to look down the line and what we’re trying to accomplish both medium and long term rather than reacting to every little piece of information that day.
“I’ve known Donald Trump for 35 years and he was pretty much the same 35 years ago as he is today. That’s who the people elected. They wanted somebody different.
“One of the things people don’t know about Donald Trump is how he’ll go round 50 people and ask ‘what’s your opinion of this?’
“He’ll look at you, he’ll listen to you, he’ll give you feedback on your opinion, and if he agrees with you he’ll use your opinion. He listens to advice, he listens to people around him, but he’s going to make his own decision.”
Ms Creasy added: “What worries me most is that the Ambassador says he listens to people - he didn’t listen to our own Prime Minister saying this is not acceptable. I fear what else he would do if he does come here and I think it’s right that we’re all saying this is not appropriate at this point in time.
“He was then told about Britain First, what they’re doing, the violence, the intimidation that they’ve been whipping up in British society and instead of accepting that ‘yes I got it wrong in this instance’, he doubled down and attacked the Prime Minister about it.”
Former UK ambassador to Washington Sir Christopher Meyer said to withdraw the invitation now “would give serious offence to many people in the United States who didn’t necessarily vote for Trump in the Presidential election.
“What we have in play here is not just Trump the man, the occupier of the Oval Office, but the institution of the Presidency and the national prestige which is invested in that.”