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Section 27 - international relations Section 40 - personal information Section 35 - formulation of policy

From: Adam Bye (FCO) Sent: 30 November 2017 07:43 To: Washington/FCO (Section 40) Subject: Re: Advice on Trump's tweet

To be aware that Home Office have received the following urgent question this morning:

"Stephen Doughty MP: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make a statement on the activities of , online hate speech, and the sharing of inflammatory content by the President of the United States, ."

Best wishes,

Adam

Adam Bye, Deputy Director US and Canada

From:Washington (Section 40) Sent: 30 November 2017 12:17 To: FCO (Section 40) Subject: Re: Today programme interviews on Pres Trump tweets

On November 30, 2017 at 4:11:36 AM EST FCO (Section 40)

See below a readout of the interviews on Today with Ann Coulter, Emily Thornberry, Melanie Phillips, James Reuben and Justine Greening:

President Trump has hit back at NolO for joining condemnation of his retweets of anti-Muslim videos posted by a far-right group. Mr Trump advises to focus on 'Radical Islamic Terror' in Britain, not on him (R4 0800).

_Norman Smith_: There has been no response from NolO so far to the President's direct criticism of the Prime Minister. The tweets have fuelled demand for President Trump's state visit to the cancelled Justine Greening voices her concern about the President's tweet, but cautions against allowing them to damage UK-US relations (R4 0801).

*Khizr Khan*: Lying and fabricated facts is one of the salient features of Donald Trump. The British Prime Minister's words should have been taken seriously. We all need to unite ourselves against the menace of . But fabricating facts and creating divisions and inciting violence is not the way to defeat terrorism (Tdy 0810 i/v). *Ann Coulter*: Did you know who Britain First is? No. I don't think it really matters. Should the President care who he is retweeting? These allegedly established news organisations are quite famous for making outrageous claims. A video is a video. Videos inaccurate, fake news? Anybody can look at the video and see it was a Middle Eastern. You said the threat came from migrants? The issue is all of the Middle Easterners and Muslims being brought in. Donald Trump and happened because of the constant importation of people who don't believe in western values. US would be safer with no Muslims? If we care about the values of tolerance and inclusion, maybe we could take it a little slower. Wise for the President to attack close ally? He gives as good as he gets. He has been attacked from the mother country. Wise for him to attack PM? If she attacks him (Tdy 0815 i/v).

**

*Emily Thornberry MP*: I don't know where to start. The idea we have invited this man for a state visit within weeks of him being elected, we have got ourselves into a difficult position. The invitation wasn't Theresa May's to make, it is for the Queen. If there is a way this can be finessed, I would support that. The whole thing will be a total security nightmare. Are you at one with the Govt? I was very pleased to see her stand up to him at last. We got into this situation because of bad judgement exercised by the Prime Minister. Labour would have to have good relations with the US? We will always have good working relations with America, but we don't share values with this man. He's constantly shifting on Nato, , Syria, , North Korea. We need to work with America but we need to be clear and stand up to him. Royal Family should not invite him to wedding? It draws the Royal Family into the political sphere in a way that is very unfortunate. Jo Cox's murderer shouted 'Britain First'. The Prime Minister was right to criticise but it is extraordinary that we have got into this place, and he is trying to belittle and humiliate her in the way he is (Tdy 0821 i/v).

*Melanie Phillips, *: What President Trump has done is set back the cause of anti- Islamism. He recklessly and carelessly retweeted videos with significant errors. Even if the information in them was true, he has validated a racist and extremist group. It is not good thinking that in order to call out Islamist extremism or terrorism, it doesn't matter if the group is racist itself. His tweet against Prime Minister? There is a narrative with which I am sympathetic, that Britain and Europe have failed to adequately deal with Islamism. But it's wrong to think it doesn't matter what groups you are supporting. There has been unfair things written about President Trump, but like many Americans he can't seem to get it into his head to make a distinction between Muslims who are against extremism and Muslims who are extremist (Tdy 0855 i/v).

*James Ruben, former US assistant secretary of state*: Trump's approval ratings have dropped so dramatically that he is essentially left with his base, who probably like this sort of thing, which is why he keeps doing it. The President carries powers that may go beyond American politics, and by promoting neo-Nazi types, it's harder for moderate Muslims to call out extremism. We will only succeed if moderate Muslims take the lead. By supporting these groups, Trump is helping the wrong people. Is Trump anti-Muslim or just anti-extremism? Mr Trump and his spokespeople have done great damage to their cause. When the courts look at their immigration bans, they will look at whether they are driven by an underlying anti-Muslim bias. How should the UK respond? It should continue to stand for its position. We have to agree to disagree on certain matters (Tdy 0856 i/v).

*Justine Greening*: Many people in Britain will disagree with his tweets over the past 24 hours. This country has stood united against terrorist attacks. We see the work of communities tackling terrorism. This country is united against terrorism. Shocked to see our closest ally attacking our PM online? President Trump tweets routinely on a number of different subjects. Attacking an ally? We are longstanding allies and the relationship is an important one. We shouldn't allow this tweet to undermine that in any way. This country is at ease with itself in being an incredibly diverse place. What should be done? Our relationship has a longevity which will succeed as presidents come and go. I don't think the tweet should detract from the close relationship we have. This is a president that behaves unlike any other and that shouldn't undermine an important relationship for our country (Tdy 0712 i/v).

(Section 40) Sent 11/30/2017 7:51:35 AM From Washington (Section 40) To FCO/Washington Section 40) CC

Subject Re: PM Trump tweet Q&A

Thanks.

On November 30, 2017 at 7:24:24 AM EST, (Section 40) wrote:

Section 35 (Section 40)

Sent 11/30/2017 5:32:12 PM From Washington Section 40 To FCO/Washington (Section 40)

Subject RE: Telegraph: Donald Trump's 'working visit' to UK dropped as tensions with Theresa May grow over president's far-Right retweets

(Section 40)

(Section 40)

From: FCO (Section 40) Sent: 30 November 2017 17:31 To: Washington (Section 40) Subject: RE: Telegraph: Donald Trump's ’working visit' to UK dropped as tensions with Theresa May grow over president's far-Right retweets

Usually use Govt spox for this one but not fussed either way.

(Section 40) From:Washington (Section 40) Sent: 30 November 2017 22:30 To: Washington/FCO (Section 40) Subject: Re: Telegraph: Donald Trump's ’working visit’ to UK dropped as tensions with Theresa May grow over president's far-Right retweets

This is what Times were calling me about. . I'll share line. Is it FCO spokesperson?

Sent from VMware Boxer

On November 30, 2017 at 5:23:00 PM EST, FCO (Section 40)

See below an article on the Telegraph's front page (but not the splash) on a future President Trump visit to the UK. Our line on this remains:

Our position on the State Visit has not changed. The offer has been extended and accepted. There are no dates confirmed for President Trump to visit the UK.

Telegraph: Donald Trump's ’working visit’ to UK dropped as tensions with Theresa May grow over president's far-Right retweets

Ben Riley-Smith, in Washington Kate McCann, in Jordan

30 November 2017 • 10:00pm

US diplomats have dropped plans for Donald Trump to conduct a visit to Britain in January amid a war of words between the two countries' leaders.

Mr Trump, the US president, had been penciled in for a 'working visit' in the first month of 2018 to formally open America's new embassy.

The trip, a scaled down version of a state visit with no meeting with the Queen, was intended to allow Mr Trump to come to the UK while avoiding the mass protests a full state visit would likely trigger.

However, The Telegraph can reveal that the trip has been pushed into the long grass, with no new date in the diary picked.

A senior US diplomat said: ’The idea of a visit has obviously been floated, but not December and not January. I would not expect a Trump visit in January."

It comes with relations between Theresa May and Mr Trump deteriorating in a public spat over the US president's tweeting of videos posted by Britain First, a far-Right group.

Mrs May used her first public comments on the matter to rebuke Mr Trump, saying he was "wrong" to share the videos and insisting her cabinet ministers would never do the same.

Doing nothing to disguise her frustration, Mrs May denounced Britain First as a "hateful organisation" that "seeks to spread mistrust and division within our communities".

She also appeared to question America's record of keeping the far-Right in check and poked fun at Mr Trump's love of by saying she rarely looked at the social media platform.

Sir Kim Darroch, the British ambassador in Washington, has formally complained to the White House about Mr Trump's behavior. The row is the most serious breakdown in trust between Mrs May and Mr Trump since he took office earlier this year and throws into question her decision to get close to the US president.

It began when Mr Trump shared three anti-Muslim videos posted by , the deputy leader of Britain First, with his 43 million followers on Twitter.

They purported to show a "Muslim migrant" attacking a Dutch boy, a Muslim destroying a Virgin Mary statue and an "Islamist mob" pushing a teenager off a roof.

Some of the information in the messages proved incorrect and the tweets drew condemnation from Cabinet ministers and Mrs May's own spokesman.

Flowever, Mr Trump hit back late on Wednesday night, tweeting.

The comment escalated calls for Mrs May to rescind the offer of a formal state visit to Mr Trump, which was made in January but is yet to take place.

The Telegraph has learned that the briefer initial visit which had been penciled in for January 2018 has now also been delayed.

A well-placed source confirmed that a January visit would not be happening but said the decision was not linked to this week's Twitter row.

Mrs May doubled down on her Government's criticism of Mr Trump during a visit to Jordan on Thursday, saying: "I am very clear that retweeting from Britain First was the wrong thing to do."

Asked about the group and whether Mr Trump was legitimising them, Mrs May said: "I think that we must all take seriously the threat that far-Right groups pose, both in terms of the terrorist threat that is posed by those groups and the necessity of dealing with extremist material which is far-Right as well.

"I have commented in the past on issues in the United States on this matter. In the we take the far-Right very seriously and that is why we ensure that we deal with these threats and this extremism wherever it comes and whatever its source."

Mrs May said that the UK will not be afraid to rebuke America, despite the so-called between the countries, when she feels Mr Trump has got something wrong.

'The fact that we work together does not mean that we are afraid to say when we think the United States have got it wrong and be very clear with them," she said.

Amber Rudd, the Flome Secretary, hinted the trip could be delayed, telling MPs on Thursday morning that "we have yet to make the arrangements" and "dates have not yet been agreed".

Meanwhile, Sadiq Khan, the London Mayor, said Mr Trump would not be welcome in the capital.

Fie said: "As the mayor of this great diverse city, I have previously called on Theresa May to cancel her ill-judged offer of a state visit to President Trump.

"After this latest incident, it is increasingly clear that any official visit at all from President Trump to Britain would not be welcomed."

In America, senior Republicans such as Orrin Flatch, the senator for Utah, and Lindsey Graham, the senator for South Carolina, backed Mrs May and criticised Mr Trump.

(Section 40)