The speaker of Britain’s lower house of parliament said on Monday he would not support any plans for U.S. President Donald Trump to address parliament during a state visit planned for later this year, citing Trump’s temporary immigration ban as a factor. More than 1.8 million people in Britain have signed a petition calling for Trump’s planned visit to be canceled or downgraded to avoid embarrassing Queen Elizabeth, part of a grassroots backlash against his immigration policies. Prime Minister Theresa May has defended the decision to offer a state visit, but more than 150 lawmakers have signed a symbolic motion calling for Trump not to be given the honor of speaking in parliament.
Meanwhile, across the pond, President Trump does not seem to like the reactions coming from his ancestral home. In an interview with ABC News, Trump argued that the “Brits are very ungrateful,” and added that that’s particularly rude, since “there wouldn’t be a Parliament in the first place if it wasn’t for American soldiers in World War II.” “We single-handedly rescued Great Britain and to hear such demeaning and offensive comments aimed against someone who’s been nothing but a friend of that country is like being stabbed in the back,” the billionaire businessman-turned-president said during the interview. “I was even very vocal when it came to BREXIT, and I supported them throughout the process. But at the end of the day, it’s okay, I’m used to it by now. It doesn’t even hurt anymore.”
And apparently, he won’t stop there. The president has also threatened to enforce “a 35% import tax” on all British cars coming to the U.S. if British Parliament continues to disrespect him. “It was just totally uncalled for,” Trump added. “This has now gone way past the point of insulting me as an individual. I am no longer just Donald Trump, billionaire businessman and real estate mogul with awesome hair; I now represent an entire country, the greatest country in the world. An insult to me is an insult to the United States of America, which is why I can’t simply brush it off. Contrary to popular belief, I’m not trying to play hardball just for the fun of it. At the end of the day, the world needs to understand that the days of Barack Obama are over and that Trump’s America is not something you get to mess around with.”
“You don’t get to make all these crappy cars wherever in the world and then import them to America and sell them as exotic cars or whatever. That isn’t going to cut it. And the same goes for American carmakers planning to move their production abroad. Foreign cars in general are not good enough for American standards, and that goes especially for British cars. As a matter of fact, most UK car companies are owned by American capital to some extent; that just goes to show how incapable those manufacturers are of designing, producing and then selling great cars. They don’t deserve the privilege of having access to American customers…that is, unless they stop disrespecting me. I’ll reconsider enforcing that tax only if that happens. Otherwise, it’s a done deal,” Trump concluded.
