On Twitter yesterday, the US President unleashed an unprecedented attack on London Mayor Sadiq Khan labelling the former MP a “very dumb and incompetent” “stone cold loser” and sneering at his height. (We can’t make this stuff up).
.@SadiqKhan, who by all accounts has done a terrible job as Mayor of London, has been foolishly “nasty” to the visiting President of the United States, by far the most important ally of the United Kingdom. He is a stone cold loser who should focus on crime in London, not me……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 3, 2019
….Kahn reminds me very much of our very dumb and incompetent Mayor of NYC, de Blasio, who has also done a terrible job – only half his height. In any event, I look forward to being a great friend to the United Kingdom, and am looking very much forward to my visit. Landing now!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 3, 2019
Sadiq Khan, a Muslim politician who emphatically won his position in 2016 against Boris Johnson, has been vocal about his unfavourable opinion of Trump and the divisive politics he adheres to.
In a viral video, Khan calmly takes the President down, suggesting Trump’s values and what he stands for “are the complete opposite of London’s values and the values in this country.”
It’s an unusual confrontation for the President of the US to wade into, given Khan’s solely domestic responsibilities have no bearing on foreign relations. But then, nothing Donald Trump says or does should surprise anyone anymore.
In fact, as the anti-President, Trump saw little reason to refrain from insulting new royal Meghan Markle, either. During an interview with The Sun Herald, he labelled the American-born Duchess of Sussex “nasty”– his preferred adjective for women who oppose him.
In true Trump style, he flatly denied the incident describing it as “Fake News Media” on Twitter, until the paper in question released a soundbite of the interview plainly contradicting the President’s statement.
I never called Meghan Markle “nasty.” Made up by the Fake News Media, and they got caught cold! Will @CNN, @nytimes and others apologize? Doubt it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 2, 2019
Markle, who recently gave birth to her first son Archie with Prince Harry has been noticeably absent during royal welcoming proceedings for the President.
Before Markle was even publicly dating Prince Harry—and was thus allowed to be more open about her politics—the self-described feminist appeared on an episode of The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore and labelled Trump “divisive” and “misogynistic.”
She was also vocal about her support for Democratic candidate, Hilary Clinton and joked she might consider moving to Canada if Trump won the election.
Trump’s visit continues tomorrow, where he’ll meet with resigning Prime Minister Theresa May. Upon his last visit Trump boldly criticised May for her handling of Brexit and her failure to heed his advice.
In an interview in January, Trump told the Sun newspaper that he had explained to the UK PM “how to do” Brexit but “she didn’t listen to me”.
May retorted that Trump directed her to “sue the EU” and “not go into negotiations”.
No doubt tomorrow’s meeting will be equally as colourful. President Trump is just warming up.