London Mayor Sadiq Khan has fired back after former President Donald Trump accused the city of sliding toward “sharia law.” Khan’s office dismissed Trump’s
remarks as “bigoted,” saying London remains one of the safest and most diverse capitals in the world.
Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump called Khan a “terrible, terrible mayor” and claimed London had “so changed” under his leadership, even suggesting the city “wants to go to sharia law.” He also tied immigration and environmental policies in Europe to what he described as the decline of Western society.
Trump didn’t specify who he meant by “they,” but his comments echoed conspiracy theories often pushed online by the far-right. Khan, the first Muslim mayor of London, has never proposed anything close to introducing religious law in the U.K.
Khan’s spokesperson chose not to engage directly with Trump, saying in a statement: “We are not going to dignify his appalling and bigoted comments with a response. London is the greatest city in the world, safer than major U.S. cities, and we’re delighted to welcome the record number of Americans moving here.”
From the White House side, spokesman Davis Ingle backed Trump, claiming that “unchecked migration” is making the world less safe.
U.K. politicians, meanwhile, rallied around Khan. Health Secretary Wes Streeting wrote on X that Trump’s accusations were flat-out wrong: “This is a Mayor who marches with Pride, who stands up for differences, and who’s focused on improving our city — from transport and air quality to safety and opportunity.”
This latest spat is just the newest chapter in a long feud. Khan criticized Trump back in 2015 when he first called for a “total shutdown of Muslims entering the U.S.” Their war of words has only escalated since. Recently, Trump even claimed Khan is “among the worst mayors in the world” and reportedly asked that he be excluded from a royal banquet during Trump’s state visit to the U.K.
Trump has also repeatedly accused Khan of letting crime spiral out of control. While crime has risen in London over the past decade, homicide rates remain lower than in several major U.S. cities, including Washington, D.C. Photo by Gage Skidmore, Wikimedia commons.