The so-called “special relationship” between Britain and the US was under intense strain Thursday after President Donald Trump publicly rebuked Prime Minister Theresa May over his dissemination of anti-Muslim propaganda.
In an extraordinary diplomatic clash between the two allies, Trump took aim at May on Wednesday evening, tweeting: “@Theresa_May, 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!”
Trump faced a barrage of criticism in the UK Parliament on Thursday that was unprecedented for a US President. In a hastily scheduled debate on the controversy, MPs variously called him “racist,” “fascist” and “evil.”
May — whose visit to the Middle East was overshadowed by the controversy — was under pressure to cancel a planned state visit by Trump. “I’m very clear that retweeting from Britain First was the wrong thing to do,” she told reporters.
The President had earlier caused outrage by retweeting three videos posted by Jayda Fransen, the deputy leader of the far-right UK party Britain First. The inflammatory videos showed people purported to be Muslims carrying out assaults and, in one video, smashing a statue of the Virgin Mary.
Downing Street condemned Trump, staying he was “wrong” to share videos by a group that “seeks to divide communities through their use of hateful narratives which peddle lies and stoke tensions.”
Fransen was found guilty of religiously aggravated harassment in November 2016 after abusing a Muslim woman wearing a hijab.
Delete your account
Members of Parliament from all parties lined up to criticize Trump in the House of Commons on Thursday. Labour MP Stephen Doughty said: “This is the President of the United States, sharing with millions, inflammatory and divisive content” by someone “who represents a vile, fascist organisation seeking the spread hatred and violence in person and online.”
Doughty added that, by sharing the tweets Trump was “either a racist, incompetent, or unthinking. Or all three.”
Another Labour MP, Chris Byrant, said the US President would face arrest if he came to the UK. “The Prime Minister should make it absolutely clear that if Donald Trump comes to this country, he’ll be arrested for inciting religious hatred and therefore he’d be better off not coming at all.”
Some MPs said Trump should quit Twitter. Conservative MP Peter Bone said: “Wouldn’t the world be a better place if the Prime Minister could persuade the President of the United States to delete his Twitter account?”
Responding to Bone, Home Secretary Amber Rudd replied: “I’m sure many of us might share his view.”
Speaking earlier, the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said Trump’s latest outburst meant it had become “increasingly clear that any official visit at all from President Trump to Britain would not be welcomed” and urged May to call it off.
“President Trump yesterday used Twitter to promote a vile, extremist group that exists solely to sow division and hatred in our country,” Khan said in a statement.
“Many Brits who love America and Americans will see this as a betrayal of the special relationship between our two countries. It beggars belief that the President of our closest ally doesn’t see that his support of this extremist group actively undermines the values of tolerance and diversity that makes Britain so great.”
Speaking in the House of Commons, Home Secretary Amber Rudd did not withdraw the invitation, saying it had been “extended and accepted.” But she stressed that no dates or arrangements had been made.
Asked at the regular Downing Street press briefing on Thursday whether the British government had raised the issue of Trump’s tweets with the Trump administration, a spokesman for May said: “Government officials are in touch with the White House regularly, including in the last couple of days. You wouldn’t expect me to get into details of those conversations.”
When asked about Trump’s direct criticism of May and the presence of “Radical Islamic Terrorism” in the UK, the spokesman said: “I wouldn’t take a position on that.”
‘Presidents come and go’
Justine Greening, a British cabinet minister, addressed the controversy in a round of UK media interviews on Thursday morning. Greening said she did not agree with the tweets, but said the relationship between the two countries would survive Trump.
“In the end, our relationship with the United States has a longevity to it that will succeed long after presidents come and go,” she told the BBC.
“I don’t agree with the tweet President Trump has made, but I have to say I also believe it should not distract from the agenda we have domestically and I don’t believe it should detract from the close relationship the UK has had for many, many years and will go on to have with America and the American people.”
Trump’s rebuke to May was originally addressed to the wrong Twitter account, one that had only six followers and has sent only nine tweets.
After deleting his first effort and successfully locating the Twitter handle of the British Prime Minister, he lashed out at Downing Street for its criticism of him retweeting anti-Muslim videos posted online by far-right British group Britain First.
Earlier, Brendan Cox, the husband of murdered British lawmaker Jo Cox — whose killer reportedly shouted “Britain first” as he stabbed her — said Trump had “become a purveyor of hate.” He told CNN’s Anderson Cooper: “This is like the President retweeting the Ku Klux Klan. This is not a mainstream organization and for the President of the United States, our greatest ally as a country, to be retweeting, to be providing a microphone to those voices.”
One of the videos purports to show a young “Muslim migrant” attacking a boy on crutches. The Dutch attorney general’s office, which handled the case, said the incident occurred in May and the suspect was born and raised in the Netherlands. A spokesperson would not comment on the suspect’s religion, saying it was against official policy to share such information.
May in tight spot
May’s attempts to woo the US have left her in a difficult position. With a view to strengthening Anglo-US relations after Brexit, May was the first world leader to meet Trump after his inauguration, flying out to Washington to launch a charm offensive.
But the visit went down badly at home. She was widely criticized for taking Trump’s hand while walking at the White House, while she was also derided for offering him the invitation of a state visit so early in his presidency.
Since then, the decision has come under further criticism as Trump has made a series of interventions in British politics.
In October, he incorrectly suggested there was a link between rising crime rates in the United Kingdom and the “spread of Radical Islamic terror.”
In September, he railed against “loser terrorists” behind the London Tube explosion and suggested that the perpetrator was known to authorities and recruited on the Internet, prompting May and a London police spokesperson to publicly rebuke the President.
And in June, soon after news reports surfaced about the London Bridge terror attacks, he seized on the moment to promote the travel ban.
He has also been involved in a number of Twitter disputes with Khan, the London Mayor.
Some 1.8 million people have already signed a petition urging the government to rescind the invitation May made to Trump just weeks after his inauguration last January.
State visits are typically characterized by pomp and ceremony, and generally include a banquet with the Queen but one by Trump is unlikely to prove popular in Britain.
In June, the White House moved to deny a report that Trump planned to delay his state visit over fears of potential protests and his perceived unpopularity.