King Charles is Team Donald Trump, but London refuses to accept his bigoted attack

London Mayor Sadiq Khan just came out swinging at Donald Trump, calling the president “racist, sexist, and Islamophobic”. This blistering attack comes after Trump used a United Nations General Assembly address to call Khan a “terrible mayor” and falsely claim that London wanted to be governed by Islamic law.

The two have a history of trading insults ever since Khan was elected in 2016, with Khan criticizing Trump’s travel ban on majority-Muslim countries and Trump calling the London mayor a “nasty person”. Trump said he looks at London and sees “a terrible mayor, terrible, terrible mayor,” adding that the city “has been so changed” and that “now they want to go to Sharia law”.

This isn’t just a political jab; it’s a bigoted and baseless accusation. Per NBC, the idea of Sharia law taking over London is a common right-wing conspiracy theory that has no basis in reality. Even though there are Sharia councils, they have no legal authority in the U.K. A government review in 2018 confirmed this, yet the narrative persists.

Trump and the London mayor are still at each other’s throats

Khan didn’t waste any time in firing back. Initially, his team at City Hall released a statement saying they wouldn’t “dignify his appalling and bigoted comments with a response”. However, Khan clearly changed his mind, and I’m glad he did. Speaking from a London bus, he told reporters, “I think Donald Trump has shown he is racist, he is sexist, he is misogynistic and he’s Islamophobic”.

He even joked that he must be “living in Donald Trump’s head, rent free,” and pointed out the “record numbers of Americans” who have recently moved to London, suggesting there must be a reason for it. It’s a pretty good point, to be fair.

What’s even more interesting is how Khan’s response contrasts with that of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Last week, King Charles III and Starmer hosted Trump for a state visit. This was Trump’s second official trip to Britain as president, which is pretty unprecedented. Very few world officials have been willing to openly criticize Trump, especially after he launched a global trade war that hit allies like the U.K. hard.

When asked if Britain should be showing such friendship to Trump, Khan responded with a great analogy: “If you have a best friend, you should expect more from them—it’s very different to an acquaintance or somebody who’s a distant friend”. He argued that a strong relationship should give you the confidence to call out the other side when they are wrong, and he thinks Trump is “wrong in many, many ways”.