US president Donald Trump said late on Thursday he no longer plans to attend the opening of a new US embassy in London.
He announced the decision in a midnight tweet amid reports in Britain that a Trump visit would be met with protests.
The president wrote he was nixing the trip - initially scheduled for next month - because he is displeased with the location of the new embassy and its price tag.
"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," Mr Trump wrote.
"Bad deal. Wanted me to cut ribbon-NO!"
But the Guardian has since reported the embassy’s plan to move from Mayfair to Nine Elms in London was first mooted in October 2008 when George W Bush was still president and Mr Obama had not yet been elected.
Mr Trump has also been offered a full-blown state visit to Britain but no date has been set amid jitters over protests.
As recently as 7 January, UK prime minister Theresa May reiterated a state visit was still planned, saying "Trump is coming to the UK".
But the relationship between Trump and May has been far from rosy.
In November, Ms May directly criticised Mr Trump's decision to retweet material from the far-right extremist group, Britain First.
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