Despite petition, UK prepares royal welcome for Trump
The British government has formally rejected a petition calling for President Trump鈥檚 British state visit to be canceled or downgraded in formality.
British Prime Minister Theresa May and President Trump hold a joint news conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 27, 2017.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters/File
In a statement posted Tuesday, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office rejected an online petition requesting that the British government cancel or remove the official status of President Trump鈥檚 forthcoming state visit.
Rather than demanding an outright ban on Mr. Trump鈥檚 proposed visit, the petition had requested that his visit be downgraded from an official state visit, which would involve meeting with Queen Elizabeth and a formal state banquet in the Buckingham Palace Ballroom.
The petition states that Trump鈥檚 鈥渨ell documented misogyny and vulgarity disqualifies him from being received by Her Majesty the Queen or the Prince of Wales鈥� and said that such a visit 鈥渨ould cause embarrassment to Her Majesty the Queen.鈥�
But despite having garnered more 1.8 million signatures 鈥� far beyond the 100,000 threshold which requires the subject be debated in Parliament 鈥� the government is simply not ready to threaten ties with its biggest ally.
The 聽reads, 鈥淗M Government recognises the strong views expressed by the many signatories of this petition, but does not support this petition.鈥�
The British government rejected the petition on the grounds that Prime Minister Theresa May had already invited Trump during her visit to the United States on Jan. 27 and planned to stand by that invitation as an indication of "the importance of the relationship between the United States of America and the United Kingdom." The date of the official visit has yet to be announced.
As the nation prepares for its聽鈥渉ard exit鈥� from the European Union, Britain must negotiate new bi-lateral arrangements independently, something May is eager to hammer out with the US.
For his part, Trump lauded the Brexit vote in an interview with former British conservative leadership contender Micheal Gove, calling the decision 鈥渟mart鈥� and saying 鈥減eople, countries, want their own identity and the UK wanted its own identity,鈥� according to聽.
In a diplomatic gesture, the prime minister sent Trump a letter before her January visit that included a copy of Winston Churchill鈥檚 famous speech to the American people on Christmas Eve of 1941. In her letter, May reiterated that the 鈥渟ense of unity and fraternal association between the United Kingdom and United States 鈥� is just as true today as it has ever been,鈥� .
For his part, Trump said he would聽return a bust of Winston Churchill to the Oval Office, a well-received action across the Atlantic.
A , 鈥淒onald Trump should make a State Visit to the United Kingdom,鈥� with more than 310,000 signatures, urged the government to roll out the welcome mat for Trump:聽
鈥淗e is the leader of a free world, and U.K. is a country that supports free speech and does not believe that people that oppose our point of view should be gagged.鈥�