Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Read more
London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan has said he would be “more than happy” to meet Donald Trump – despite warning that the US President could be “inadvertently radicalising people” and is “not a force for good”.
Sir Sadiq dismissed jibes that President Trump made against him on a recent visit to Scotland, where he claimed the London Mayor was “a nasty person” who has “done a terrible job”.
The Labour politician said remarks such as those were “water off a duck’s back”.
However, he told an event at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe it sometimes felt like he was “nine years old again” and “in the school playground”.
But Sir Sadiq, speaking at the Political Party show with comedian Matt Forde, hit back at the US President, saying: “Somebody who has views like he does about black people, about women, about gays, about Muslims, about Mexicans, thinks I’m nasty.
“Really. He is the leader of the free world, arguably the most powerful man in the world, and really.”
He spoke out as he said that records showed since the middle of January this year – when Mr Trump began his second term in the White House – and July “there have never been more Americans applying to British citizenship and living in London”.
The Mayor said: “So I think Americans have got good taste by and large.”
He added that he hoped the President would come to London during his state visit to the UK next month, with Sir Sadiq stressing the “diversity” of the capital was a “strength, not a weakness”.
Speaking about this diversity, he insisted: “I think it makes us stronger not weaker, richer not poorer.
“And when President Trump says some of the things he does, it brings from the periphery to the mainstream, views that are potentially dangerous.
“He inadvertently – I’m not going to suggest he does it deliberately – he inadvertently could be radicalising people with views that could lead to them doing things that are dangerous.”
He spoke out about fears that minorities “could be treated less favourably because of the views of the President of the USA” as he accused Mr Trump of “using London and our diversity as a political football, as a proxy for a culture war”.
The London Mayor continued: “On a personal level, it is water off a duck’s back, but we can’t run away from the fact that there are some really serious challenges we face as a western society and President Trump, in my view, I speak generally, isn’t a force for good.”
However he insisted that he would be “more than happy to meet President Trump” saying he would seek to show him that it is “possible to be proud to be a westerner and a proud to be Muslim, that it is possible to be British, and proud to be British, and be of Pakistani origin and be a law abiding citizen and we aren’t three headed monsters”.
The Labour politician said: “I suspect President Trump may have formed a view of Muslims because of the actions of a small minority of really bad people who are terrorists and use Islam in a perverted way.
“What I would want President Trump to know is that is a very small fraction of Muslims across the globe.
“So if there was an opportunity to meet President Trump, I would be more than happy to do so.”