Trump, in Davos, Mends Split With Britain and Widens One With Palestinians

DAVOS, Switzerland — President Donald Trump sought to repair one diplomatic rift while widening another Thursday as he smoothed over months of friction with Britain but threatened to cut financial aid to the Palestinians after they withdrew from peace discussions.

Separate meetings with the prime ministers of Britain and Israel showcased the wide disparity in Trump’s ties with key counterparts. His session with Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain was tense as they tried to put the relationship back on track, while his sit-down with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was warm as the two agreed on what they cast as Palestinian intransigence.

The strain between the United States and Britain, its closest ally, increased when Trump retweeted anti-Muslim videos posted by an ultranationalist British group, which May called “wrong,” and culminated in his decision to cancel a scheduled visit to London, where the mayor declared him unwelcome. Sitting down Thursday with May, Trump said he was now exploring a visit later in the year and dismissed talk of discord as a “false rumor.”

“We’re on the same wavelength, I think, in every respect,” Trump said. “And the prime minister and myself have had a really great relationship, although some people don’t necessarily believe that, but I can tell you it’s true.” He expressed respect for May, and said he thought “the feeling is mutual from the standpoint of liking each other a lot,” adding that the two were “very much joined at the hip” on military matters.

May was polite but less effusive and offered no personal testimonial to Trump, keeping her comments focused on their mutual national interests. “We, too, have that really special relationship between the U.K. and the United States,” she said. “It’s at each other’s shoulders. We face the same challenges across the world, and as you say we’re willing to go and to defeat those challenges and meet them.”

The meeting with Netanyahu showcased one of Trump’s strongest international relationships. Trump recently discarded decades of U.S. policy to formally recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and has threatened to pull out of a nuclear deal with Iran that the Israeli leader despises. During a visit to Israel this week, Vice President Mike Pence announced that the U.S. Embassy would move to Jerusalem in 2019.

With Netanyahu at his side, Trump excoriated the Palestinians, who also claim Jerusalem as the capital for a future state and refused to meet with Pence in protest. “They disrespected us a week ago by not allowing our great vice president to see them,” Trump said. “That money is not going to them unless they sit down and negotiate peace.”

The Trump administration this month already withheld $65 million from the U.N. agency that aids Palestinian refugees. The United States also provides aid through its own government agency that could be cut. But Israelis have expressed concern about such moves because they could further destabilize the West Bank and Gaza and fuel security threats.

Netanyahu thanked Trump profusely for the Jerusalem recognition. “This is a historic decision that will be forever etched in the hearts of our people for generations to come,” he said. “People say that this puts peace backward. I say it puts peace forward because it recognizes history, it recognizes the present reality, and peace can only be built on the basis of truth.

At the United Nations, Trump’s ambassador, Nikki Haley, delivered a rebuke aimed at the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, who has rejected any U.S. role in peace talks because of the Jerusalem decision.

“He insulted the American president,” Haley said. “He called for suspending recognition of Israel. He invoked an ugly and fictional past, reaching back to the 17th century to paint Israel as a colonialist project engineered by European powers.”

Palestinian leaders stood their ground and denounced threats to cut financial aid.

“Today’s message is clear: President Trump is blackmailing and punishing the Palestinian people for fighting and believing in their freedom and human rights per international law and U.N. resolutions,” Saeb Erekat, secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization and a longtime peace negotiator, said in a statement. “President Trump could buy many things with his money, but he won’t be able to buy the dignity of our nation.”