President Trump announced his arrival in the U.K. by pouring scorn on the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan calling him a “stone cold loser” on Twitter as Air Force One made its final approach.
He was responding to a newspaper column written by Khan a day earlier in which he likened the president to “fascists of the 20th century.”
It is exactly the sort of spat officials on both sides were hoping to avoid during a three-day state visit they said would focus on honoring the enduring alliance and shared sacrifice of the two nations during D-Day.
In the event, Trump had not even touched British soil when he rejoined a long-simmering feud with Khan.
[Watch: Trump arrives at Buckingham Palace for UK visit]
.@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
“@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,” wrote Trump. “He is a stone cold loser who should focus on crime in London, not me.”
He offered some more thoughts, comparing Khan’s height unfavorably with that of Bill de Blasio, mayor of New York, before signing off with a breezy, “landing now.”
….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
Minutes later he descended the stairs from Air Force One at Stansted Airport, where he was greeted by Jeremy Hunt, the British foreign secretary, and Woody Johnson, his ambassador to London.
Khan and Trump have clashed repeatedly since 2016 when Khan described the then-presidential candidate as a “buffoon” for his stance on banning Muslims from entering the U.S.
Trump accused Khan of not doing enough in the wake of deadly terror attacks in London a year later.
A spokesman for the London mayor said Trump should be above childish insults.
“Sadiq is representing the progressive values of London and our country, warning that Donald Trump is the most egregious example of a growing far-right threat around the globe, which is putting at risk the basic values that have defined our liberal democracies for more than 70 years,” he said.
Khan is boycotting a state banquet hosted by Queen Elizabeth II on Monday evening but Trump, speaking as he left the U.S., said he had no interest in meeting the mayor. “I don’t think much of him,” he said.
[Related: Trump will meet the Queen during UK state visit, but will he address Parliament?]
The schedule for this visit is largely ceremonial. Both sides have their own problems —Theresa May steps down as leader of the Conservative Party soon after Trump leaves —and are keen to focus on D-Day commemoration services in Britain and France.
The Queen initially extended an invitation soon after Trump’s inauguration but it took him more than two years to accept, in part because of fears over his reception in the U.K.
Up to a quarter of a million protesters are expected in London on Tuesday.
Even before he arrived, Trump faced criticism for voicing opinions on British politics. In interviews with British newspapers he came close to endorsing Boris Johnson for the role of prime minister and suggested Nigel Farage should have a job negotiating Brexit.
Sir Christopher Meyer, former British ambassador to Washington, said he had overstepped the line.
“Trump has smashed one of the most sacred conventions of diplomacy — that a head of state does not interfere in the internal affairs of the country which he or she is visiting. Trump needs to be very careful,” he wrote in the Times.
