Sadiq Khan has finally congratulated Donald Trump on winning the US election after resurfaced comments calling the president a ‘racist’ emerged.
Speaking during a phone-in on James O’Brien’s LBC Radio show, the Mayor of London warned Trump’s policies would “pose problems” for the capital.
“Firstly it’s really important I say this because I abide by the rules of the game,” he said.
“Donald Trump has won the election; he’s going to be the president in January. And I wish him well, I congratulate him on winning the election.
“But clearly, we know from his record when he was president between 2016 and 2020 and also some of the things he’s campaigned on, there are anxieties that Londoners have, which my job as the mayor is to articulate those.”
“I think the three things that even Donald Trump supporters would agree with is his policies are protectionist, nativist, and unilateralist,” he added.
“I think that poses problems not just for our great country and the world but also for London.”
Mr Khan later added: “Now JD Vance, Elon Musk and others may have changed their mind about Trump, I haven’t but I’m giving the president-elect the benefit of the doubt and let’s hope, fingers crossed, this president, during this term, is different from the last one.”
Speaking to the High Performance podcast, Mr Khan took aim at Trump, saying his policies are “sexist, homophobic, Islamophobic and racist”.
Trump had previously described the mayor as “a stone-cold loser” and “very dumb”, during his first term in office.
Asked about the ongoing row, he said: “It’s personal, let’s be frank. If I wasn’t this colour skin, if I wasn’t a practising Muslim, he wouldn’t have come for me.
“He wasn’t coming for me because I’m five foot six. He’s coming for me for because of – let’s be frank – my ethnicity and my religion, so it’s incredibly personal to me.
“It affects me, my family. What worries me though, it’s not about me and my family – it’s about the fact that he’s the leader of the free world.
“This is the president of the USA, a country we all adore, love, we love Americans, we love American culture. But also America’s like a lighthouse. They can be somebody that’s a source of good, ripples of hope and love, but also ripples of hate.”
