He was imprisoned by the British, having worked as a cook for a British army officer, in 1949 for joining the Kenyan independence movement.

On the eve of his final planned visit to Britain as President, here are eight of the Obama administration’s worst clangers:

1. Dumping Winston Churchill

In February 2009 it was confirmed that Obama asked for a bust of Sir Winston Churchill to be removed from the Oval Office.

The bronze, by Sir Jacob Epstein and worth hundreds of thousands of dollars on the open market, was lent to George W. Bush by the British government in the wake of 9/11 as a show of solidarity.

One of Obama’s first moves as President was to dump it. It now resides in the British ambassador’s residence in Washington.

2. Unplayable DVDs
During Obama’s first visit to the UK in 2009, then-prime minister Gordon Brown presented him with a pen holder made from the timbers of the 19th century British warship HMS President, whose sister ship, HMS Resolute, provided the wood for the Oval Office’s desk. In March 2009, during Brown’s visit to the US, Obama repaid the gesture by giving him 25 DVDs of American movie classics. This lack of original thought was compounded when it emerged the DVDs could not be played on a British DVD machine.

3. Backing Argentina over Britain
Since 2010 the Obama administration has consistently backed Argentina’s wishes for negotiations to begin over the future of the Falkland Islands, despite 255 British servicemen losing their lives in the 1982 Falklands War. Most controversially, Obama’s government has also publicly referred to the Falklands as “Las Malvinas”, their Argentine name, instead of using their official name.

5. Choosing France over Britain

In January 2011 Obama again put British noses out of joint by declaring: “We don’t have a stronger friend and stronger ally than Nicolas Sarkozy, and the French people.” So much for the special relationship.

4. Blaming Britain for “s*** storm” Libya

In March 2016, Obama used an interview in The Atlantic magazine to attach blame to David Cameron for the “mess” in which Libya finds itself after 2011’s western invasion of the north African state. Obama reportedly told the magazine he regards the conflict as a “s*** show”.

6. Downgrading Britain’s importance in world affairs Pt. 1
In 2009 a US state department official said: “There’s nothing special about Britain. You’re just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn’t expect special treatment.” Could the message have been any clearer?

7. Downgrading Britain, Pt. 2
In 2015 US officials said they still value close intelligence and military ties with the UK, but at times sound almost dismissive about the current British government’s reluctance to play a bigger role in the world. “They are still one of our first phone calls but there are times when they just do not seem that engaged,” said a senior Obama administration official last year.

And Nicholas Burns, a former US ambassador to Nato and third-ranking official at the state department, added “Until recently, Britain was very much our most trusted, dependable and capable ally… It is very striking the way that Angela Merkel has become the undisputed leader of Europe.”. Enough said.

8. Brexit debate
As a parting gift to David Cameron, Obama has agreed to enter the Brexit debate by publicly stating his belief today that Britain must stay in the EU. This intervention has upset many influential thinkers in Britain (CLICK HERE & HERE & also HERE) ahead of the EU referendum on June 23. They almost certainly include the Queen.

To view the original of this article & many more interesting viewpoints CLICK HERE