New US Embassy opens in London

The new U.S. Embassy complex in London, which has been criticized by President Trump, opened for the first time on Tuesday.

The embassy was opened without ceremony in London’s formerly industrial Nine Elms neighborhood, The Associated Press reported. The new embassy replaces the previous complex in Grosvenor Square, which the U.S. has used for decades. The AP reports a Qatari investment firm has purchased the old building and has plans to turn it into a hotel.

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Trump, who initially planned to visit London for the opening of the embassy, tweeted last week that he canceled the trip and blamed former President Obama for the project’s cost.

“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. Bad deal. Wanted me to cut ribbon-NO!” Trump said.

The embassy’s relocation was actually begun under Obama’s predecessor, former President George W. Bush.

Trump’s tweet came after days of reports that the White House had backed down from plans for the president to visit the U.K. amid threats of heavy protest from British citizens critical of his policies.

Trump’s decision not to visit the city was celebrated by London’s first Muslim mayor, Sadiq Khan, who tweeted that the president “got the message” that Londoners don’t approve of his more radical policies.

“It appears that President Trump got the message from the many Londoners who love and admire America and Americans but find his policies and actions the polar opposite of our city’s values of inclusion, diversity and tolerance,” Khan said in a statement last Friday.