In a week marked by sharp transatlantic rhetoric, London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan has once again found himself at the center of a public feud with U.S. President Donald Trump. The latest exchange, which unfolded in mid-December 2025, has reignited longstanding tensions between the two leaders and sparked a broader debate about political discourse, multiculturalism, and the impact of inflammatory language on both sides of the Atlantic.
It all began earlier in the week when President Trump, speaking to Politico, launched a scathing attack on Khan. The U.S. president labeled the London mayor as "incompetent" and went even further, calling him "a horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor" who has "done a terrible job." Trump lamented what he sees as a decline in European cities, singling out London and Paris as examples. "If you take a look at Paris, it’s a much different place. I loved Paris. Uh, it’s a much different place than it was. If you take a look at London, you have a mayor named Khan. He’s a horrible mayor. He’s an incompetent mayor, but he’s a horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor. I think he’s done a terrible job. London’s a different place. I love London. I love London. And I hate to see it happen. You know, my roots are in Europe, as you know," Trump said, according to Politico.
Khan, for his part, responded swiftly and with visible exasperation. Speaking to LBC radio on December 14, he dismissed Trump’s remarks as “sticks and stones,” but he also voiced genuine puzzlement over the U.S. president’s repeated focus on him. “I'm slightly curious and concerned why the leader of the free world who's got so many challenges in the Middle East, in Ukraine, issues around the climate emergency, issues around trade, is spending time talking about me, and giving the impression he's obsessed with me and, for him, it’s to explain why,” Khan said during the interview, as reported by PA and Express.
This was far from the first time Trump had zeroed in on Khan. The feud dates back to Khan’s historic 2016 election as London’s first Muslim mayor, but in recent months, the rhetoric has grown more caustic. This time, Trump’s criticisms extended beyond personal attacks. He suggested that "many" European states "will not be viable countries any longer" due to what he called disastrous immigration policies, and he accused European leaders of allowing the continent to "decay." A new National Security Strategy document from the White House even warned that Europe faces "civilisational erasure" within 20 years, blaming migration policies for "transforming the continent," according to Daily Mail.
Khan did not mince words in his counterattack. He suggested that Trump’s language was not just divisive, but dangerous. "My concern about when President Trump says some of the things he does is he normalises and brings to the mainstream views that I think are unacceptable," Khan told LBC. He went further, drawing a direct line between such rhetoric and the radicalization of extremists in Britain. "There is a direct link between language and how sometimes people can become radicalised, you can call it groomed, and so forth. And we've seen in the UK a massive increase in anti-Muslim hatred," Khan stated, as reported by Daily Mail.
Pressed on whether he was accusing Trump of directly radicalizing people in Britain, Khan replied, "You know, intentionally or unintentionally, you are seeing people who are taking the views of the President of the United States as a green light to behave in a certain way." He emphasized that while he is always open to debate, the consequences of mainstreaming such views are tangible and troubling.
The mayor also addressed the persistent narrative from Trump and his supporters that London is in decline. Khan argued that such critiques are motivated by insecurity. "They seem to feel insecure that a city that is progressive, that is liberal, that is diverse, that is multicultural, is so incredibly successful. I think their nervousness and worry is it's the antithesis, it's the antidote, to all they stand for, which is unilateralism, which is nativism, which is protectionism," Khan told LBC, as cited by Express and Daily Mail.
When asked directly whether Trump’s criticisms were racially motivated, Khan did not shy away from calling out what he sees as deeper prejudices. "Some of the things President Trump has said and done lead me to believe he's a President who is racist, who is misogynistic and who is Islamophobic. And I'd go further. I think he's somebody who is anti-Muslim as well," Khan asserted. He also pointed to London’s global appeal, noting, “I suspect that's one of the reasons why we have record numbers of Americans coming here to holiday, coming here to live, coming here to invest, or coming here to study. I literally have no idea why President Trump is so obsessed with this mayor of London. I'm not sure what he's got against a liberal, progressive, diverse, successful city like London.”
Trump, meanwhile, has suggested that immigration has played a role in Khan’s electoral success, hinting in his Politico interview that those who "come in" to Britain had helped secure the mayor’s position. Khan dismissed this as another example of Trump’s fixation, stating, "I think it's for President Trump to explain what he means by that. I'm unclear."
The ongoing spat has not gone unnoticed by observers on both sides of the Atlantic. While Trump’s critics accuse him of stoking division and undermining America’s traditional alliances, his supporters argue he is simply calling out what they see as failed leadership and misguided policies in Europe. Within Britain, Khan’s defenders praise his resilience and his championing of London’s diversity, while detractors echo Trump’s criticisms, accusing the mayor of presiding over a city with serious social challenges.
Whatever the motivations, the public feud between these two high-profile leaders shows no sign of abating. As global crises mount—from armed conflict to climate change—many are left wondering why so much political energy is being spent on personal animosity. Yet for Khan, the answer may lie in the very success and symbolism of London itself: a city that, in his words, stands as "the antidote" to the politics of division.
As the year draws to a close, the world watches to see whether this war of words will escalate or finally give way to more substantive engagement on the pressing issues facing both nations.
