London – London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan unleashed a blistering counterattack Wednesday, branding U.S. President Donald Trump “racist, sexist, misogynistic, and Islamophobic” in response to Trump’s savage broadside at the United Nations General Assembly, where he labeled Khan a “terrible, terrible mayor” steering the city toward “Sharia law.”
The feud, a decade in the making, exploded during Trump’s September 24 UN speech, where he excoriated global elites and singled out Khan for his immigration and carbon-reduction policies. “London has a terrible, terrible mayor – they’re moving toward Sharia law, folks,” Trump sneered, tying it to his “America First” mantra and recent arms sales to Israel. The remarks, delivered amid escalating U.S.-UK tensions post-Trump’s state visit, echoed his 2016 Muslim travel ban, which Khan once called “outrageous.”
Khan, the first Muslim mayor of a major Western capital, hit back during a London bus route launch, quipping that he must be “living rent-free inside Donald Trump’s head.” “People are wondering what it is about this Muslim mayor who leads a liberal, multicultural, progressive, and successful city,” he told reporters. “I think President Trump has shown he is racist, he is sexist, he is misogynistic, and he’s Islamophobic.” Khan dismissed Trump’s claims as “appalling and bigoted,” noting record American tourism to London under his watch.
The spat underscores a transatlantic rift. UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting defended Khan on social media, while Labour MP Rosena Allin-Khan demanded the U.S. ambassador be summoned over “rampant Islamophobia.” Trump’s camp shrugged it off, with a White House aide calling Khan a “nasty person” echoing the president’s July Scotland visit barbs. Their clashes date to 2017’s London Bridge attack, when Trump mocked Khan’s response.
As midterms loom, Khan’s defiance rallies progressives, but risks straining U.S.-UK ties. In a world of rising populism, Trump’s UN roast has reignited old wounds, pitting multicultural London against MAGA isolationism. Will it fizzle, or fuel further fire? For now, Khan stands firm: “You’ve got to believe them when they act a certain way.”
