U.S. President Donald J. Trump is set to pass up a meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May for the second time this month, as he reportedly has no plans to meet her at the globalist Davos economic forum.
Mrs. May had been hoping for a “clear the air” meeting with the president at the Swiss resort, according to The Telegraph, after the two clashed over President Trump sharing messages on Twitter highlighting Islamic extremist violence.
The paper reports that government sources had earlier revealed plans to “engineer an encounter” between the U.S. and UK leaders, who are both attending the summit focused on finance and trade.
The White House was unenthusiastic about the plan, claiming President Trump did not have enough time, and Downing Street has now reportedly given up on the idea.
With relations seemingly souring, some are becoming less confident about securing a post-Brexit trade deal. U.S. sources, however, insist the president’s busy schedule is the issue.
“It is an extremely quick trip,” said one Trump administration source, adding that the president would only be spending “a very short amount of time” at the event.
However, President Trump will meet with French president Emmanuel Macron, who has already welcomed President Trump to Paris where he was well received by crowds and dined with Mr. Macron and his wife.
Meanwhile, the president cancelled a trip to London to open the new U.S. embassy earlier this month, after Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was “not welcome”, warned of “mass” protests, and even compared President Trump to Islamic State terrorists.
Rex Tillerson, the U.S. Secretary of State, later claimed President Trump had cancelled the trip to the UK because the prime minister needed to “focus on Brexit”.
After Mr. Trump shared messages in November last year from a member of the controversial group Britain First, highlighting Islamist violence, Mrs. May attacked him as “wrong”.
The president hit back, addressing Mrs. May directly. “Don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just fine!” he wrote of Twiter.
President Trump has already visited almost every other G7 nation as U.S. president, including Japan, as well as China, and NATO ally Poland.
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