Donald Trump has reignited his long-running feud with Sir Sadiq Khan, branding him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor” as he criticised immigration to the UK.
In an extraordinary interview, the US president singled out the London mayor, calling him a “disaster” and suggesting he has done a “terrible job”.
He said of Mr Khan, the city’s first Muslim mayor, whose parents came from Pakistan: “He gets elected because so many people have come in [to the UK]. They vote for him now.
“He’s a horrible mayor. He’s an incompetent mayor, but he’s a horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor. I think he’s done a terrible job. London’s a different place. I love London. I love London. And I hate to see it happen.”
Mr Trump has repeatedly attacked Sir Sadiq since 2015, when the Labour politician condemned the then presidential hopeful’s suggestion of a Muslim travel ban to the US.
In September, he described Sir Sadiq as one of “the worst mayors in the world” and claimed that London wants to “go to sharia law”.
The London mayor hit back at the president, accusing him of being “racist, sexist, misogynistic and Islamophobic”.
Meanwhile, Trump also denounced Europe as a “decaying” group of nations led by “weak” people in the interview with Politico.
“I think they’re weak,” he said. “But I also think that they want to be so politically correct.”
“I think they don’t know what to do,” he added. “Europe doesn’t know what to do.”
He also described cities like London and Paris as struggling with migration from Africa and the Middle East. Without reforms to border policies, he said, some European states “will not be viable countries any longer”.
No 10 later rejected the charge that the UK was decaying but did not defend Mr Khan, pointing instead to what it said was the PM’s “strong” relationship with the president.
Asked if the UK was decaying, Sir Keir’s official spokesperson said “no”, although he said the British people had voted for was change at the last election. On Mr Khan, he said the PM “has a strong relationship with the president and the mayor of London”.
In September, on a state visit to the UK, Mr Trump said that his administration had prevented “millions” of people from coming over the border to the US, adding that migration “destroys countries from within”.
“We had millions of people coming in, totally unchecked, totally undetected from the Biden administration,” he told reporters. “[About] 25 million, in my opinion, that would be about 25 million. They came from prisons. They came from mental institutions. They were gang members ... they came from everywhere.”
Turning to Sir Keir, he added: “I think your situation is very similar. You have people coming in and I told the prime minister I would stop it, and it doesn’t matter if you call out the military, it doesn’t matter what means you use.
“It destroys countries from within, and we're actually now removing a lot of the people that came into our country.”
In September, Mr Trump told Sir Keir Starmer to use the military to end the small boats crisis, warning the PM that illegal migration can “destroy” countries.
Tony Blair left out of Gaza ‘board of peace’ due to Iraq war history
Trump grades economy’s performance ‘A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus’: Live updates
Ukraine war latest: Trump says Zelensky ‘needs to get his act together’ in new attack
‘The UK has little to offer young people’: Readers weigh in on Gen Z exodus
Chair of the grooming gangs inquiry announced
Reeves addresses calls to rejoin EU customs union ahead of potential vote - latest
