U.S. President Donald Trump has canceled his planned trip to London.
Trump put all speculation about the visit to rest with a tweet shortly before midnight Thursday.
Reason I canceled 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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018
However, the U.S. embassy website says the American government purchased the site for the new embassy in 2008, before President Barack Obama took office in January 2009. The old building was sold in 2009.
Trump had been scheduled to travel to London on a working visit before the end of February, when he was expected to open the new embassy and meet with Prime Minister Theresa May, but no date had been announced.
The British press reported that Trump was said to be unhappy about the lack of "bells and whistles" during the trip, and the fact he would have not been able to meet with Queen Elizabeth, because his visit had been downgraded from a state visit to a working visit, which carries much less prestige.
The U.S. embassy is moving from Grosvenor Square in Mayfair to the Nine Elms area of Wandsworth.
The $1 billion construction project overlooking the River Thames began in November 2013 and was wholly funded by the sale of other U.S. properties in London.
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