On January 26, 2017, May visited Trump in the White House and offered him a state visit to the U.K. While she was on her way home, Trump signed the ban on citizens from seven countries traveling to the United States, including those citizens who were dual nationals of the U.K. Trump did not tell May of his plans, and mass protests quickly followed in London against the ban and Trump’s visit. May called the policy “divisive and wrong.”

On March 17, 2017, the Trump administration claimed that British intelligence services eavesdropped on Trump at the request of President Barack Obama. A spokesperson for the prime minister said, “We’ve made clear to the administration that these claims are ridiculous and should be ignored. We’ve received assurances these allegations won’t be repeated.” Trump would break that promise.

On May 23, 2017, after British intelligence shared with their American colleagues the name of Salman Abedi, the man who bombed the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, and photographs of the bomb remnants, those details were leaked to the press. The prime minister complained to the president and called the leaks unacceptable. The National Police Chiefs’ Council said that the “unauthorized disclosure of potential evidence … undermines our investigations.”

On June 3, 2017, three terrorists wielding knives killed seven people and injured dozens more. Trump tweeted, “At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is ‘no reason to be alarmed!’” He misconstrued the words of Sadiq Khan, who said he was appalled by and furious about the attacks, but went on to say Londoners should not worry if they encountered more police on the streets.

On September 15, 2017, Trump tweeted during an ongoing terrorist attack on the London Underground to justify his immigrant ban and to claim without any evidence that the British authorities had had the suspect “in their sights” beforehand.

In November 2017, Trump retweeted a video from the deputy leader of Britain First, a far-right group, that claimed to show a Muslim attacking a boy with crutches. The video was not what it purported to be, and the prime minister’s spokesperson issued a rare criticism of the president. Sajid Javid, now home secretary and a candidate to replace Theresa May, tweeted, “POTUS has endorsed the views of a vile, hate-filled racist organisation that hates me and people like me. He is wrong and I refuse to let it go and say nothing.”

On a visit to the U.K. in July 2018, Trump gave an interview to The Sun in which he said the prime minister had ignored his advice for dealing with Brexit and her deal would kill the prospect of a free-trade agreement with the United States. Trump also told the newspaper, “I think you are losing your culture.” The story broke as Trump and May walked into a formal dinner.