Politics: The Trump vs Sadiq Show

It’s a date that all big-fight fans have pencilled in their diaries – the heavyweight clash between Donald Trump and Sadiq Khan.  Already signs of it being a blockbuster are there for all to see.

And the pre-fight warm-ups have set the scene for a “ winner takes all “ decision.

The latest punches have been very personal: “I do not believe it is appropriate for the UK to roll out the red carpet for Donald Trump’s state visit to Britain,” the Mayor of London told CNN on Monday.

The response from the US President is likely to come at any time via his infamous Twitter feed to his 34 million followers, and things will really get touchy if Trump takes up Theresa May’s offer of a state visit to the UK, which is now expected in 2018.

These two have “previous.”  It all started in May 2016 when the billionaire was just a Republican presidential hopeful.

Khan had recently been elected as London’s Mayor, and his status as the first Muslim mayor of a major western city had generated international interest. The Mayor told Time magazine that if Trump won the US election he would be “stopped from going there by virtue of my faith.”

Trump’s travel-ban idea, then in its infancy, was more extreme than the version that was eventually introduced in January, and called for a complete closure of the US borders to all Muslims. The Presidential candidate was not impressed by Khan’s intervention and said so. “He doesn’t know me, never met me, doesn’t know what I’m all about,” Trump said. “ I think they’re very rude statements, and, frankly, tell him I will remember those statements.”

When the President was inaugurated and received May’s invitation for a state visit the spat renewed, and Trump did indeed remember Khan’s words. The Mayor of London was one of a number of high profile figures to say the billionaire  should not be afforded such an honour after introducing his US entry ban aimed largely at Muslims.

“I think this ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries, ending the refugee program is cruel, and it’s shameful. In those circumstances, we shouldn’t be rolling out the red carpet,” said Khan. Almost 2 million people signed a UK online petition against the state welcome, and in February thousands of protesters marched to Westminster to oppose the invitation.

With the Muslim ban still in place at the end of February, Khan risked incensing the US President further during a screening of the Iranian film The Salesman in Trafalgar Square on Oscars night. Director Asghar Farhadi and lead actress Taraneh Alidoosti had boycotted the Oscars in protest at the travel ban and Khan stepped in to show that London was “open.” In a speech clearly targeted at the US president, the Mayor told a large crowd that “at a time when people want to have travel bans, we should talk about welcoming people.”

“At a time when people want to build walls, we should build bridges.” Just over a month later, came the London terror attacks. Khan urged Londoners not to be concerned about the subsequent heavy presence of armed police on the city’s streets. “Londoners will see an increased police presence today and over the course of the next few days,” he said. “There’s no reason to be alarmed.”

Trump chose to twist that comment out of context, issuing a tweet to his huge audience suggesting that the Mayor was being complacent: “At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is “no reason to be alarmed!”

Khan’s spokesman said the Mayor had more “important things” to do than respond to Trump’s “ill-informed” tweets but Trump piled in again. “Pathetic excuse by London Mayor Sadiq Khan who had to think fast on his ‘no reason to be alarmed’ statement,” the President tweeted.

Khan said the President “was acting like kids in the playground,” but insisted he was “not at war with Donald Trump”. His latest comments suggest otherwise.

 

by Bob Graham

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