US President Trump can’t stop attacking London Mayor Sadiq Khan

Behind the decade-long feud lies a clash of worldviews on immigration and a political narrative that bears little resemblance to life in the British capital

By The Immigrant Times

US President Trump’s attacks on London’s Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan have become more insulting and vicious over recent years

December 2025: In a speech to the United Nations in September, and more recently in an interview with the US magazine Politico, US President Donald Trump launched some of his harshest criticisms yet at London’s mayor, Sir Sadiq Khan, calling him ‘horrible, vicious, disgusting’ and a ‘disaster’ for the city’s future. Trump also implied Khan’s electoral success rests on immigration and made unfounded claims about London under Khan preparing for Sharia law, statements that sparked widespread rebuttals in the UK and Europe.

The President’s latest salvo is just the most recent episode in a feud stretching back more than a decade. Trump first turned his sights on Khan during the 2015–2016 US election cycle after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban. Since then, Trump has repeatedly branded Khan a ‘terrible mayor’, ‘nasty person’, and worse, often linking his criticisms to broader cultural and political grievances.

Trump’s fixation with Mayor Khan

Trump’s political brand rests in large part on nationalist rhetoric, law-and-order themes, and criticism of liberal urban leadership. Khan, a progressive Labour mayor of a highly diverse, multicultural global city, represents everything Trump’s core base derides: open immigration policies, multiculturalism, liberal policing reforms, and defence of minority rights. By attacking the London Mayor, the US President wants to show his followers how liberal politics fail.

London is more than just another city; it’s a global symbol of cultural dynamism, international finance, and liberal values. Khan’s identity as a Muslim mayor of Pakistani heritage adds another layer to the tension. Trump’s broad criticism, including invoking immigration in his latest interview, echoes themes from his first presidential campaign and feeds his broader narrative about immigration and identity politics.

Whether it is discontent with crime or concerns about immigration, Trump’s critique of Khan mirrors similar political talking points he has used domestically. Pinning global issues on a foreign leader offers a familiar foil for Trump’s base and a way to frame culture war narratives, even when the facts don’t match his rhetoric.

As Mayor Khan himself put it after recent remarks, he suspects he is ‘living rent-free inside Donald Trump’s head’, a critique that reflects how personally Trump frames these attacks. 

London versus major US cities

Trump’s criticisms often claim that London under Khan’s leadership is less safe or more dangerous than US cities. London, like most other large cities, has historically experienced fluctuations in violent crime, but the city’s murder (homicide) rate, often cited as the most reliable comparable statistic across cities, sits at around 1–1.5 murders per 100,000 people, a level significantly lower than in many major US cities.

Moreover, recent London crime figures show declines in several serious crime categories, including knife crime and violent incidents, with murder figures at their lowest for decades.

New York City reported a homicide (murder) rate of around 4 per 100,000 in 2023, a much higher figure than London’s, though lower than several other US cities.

Homicide rates in cities like Washington, DC, have also been significantly higher than London’s, even during periods of overall decline, though direct comparisons should be made cautiously due to differences in reporting and urban footprints.

Nationwide, American cities often register higher violent crime rates than London overall. Chicago’s homicide rate in recent years has hovered well above most European capitals, and Miami also registers higher overall violent crime rates than London when adjusted per capita, although exact figures vary by year. (FBI data and local police force reports indicate US urban crime tends to be higher per capita than in London).

One of the most striking differences between cities in the United States and Britain is the frequency of mass shootings, a type of crime that is tragically familiar in the US but is virtually unheard of in the British capital.

In the US, hundreds of shootings in which four or more people are shot occur annually, with hundreds of people killed and many more wounded each year, according to tracking data compiled by organisations such as the Gun Violence Archive.

By contrast, such incidents in the UK are extremely rare. British firearms laws are among the strictest in the world, and even when mass shootings have occurred, such as the Dunblane school shooting in 1996 that prompted sweeping gun reforms, they remain isolated exceptions. As a result, most Londoners will go their entire lives without ever witnessing or hearing of a mass public shooting, a reality that underlines a profound difference in everyday public safety between London and US cities.

The broader context shows that while London, like all major cosmopolitan hubs, contends with safety challenges, it is, statistically, safer than many large US cities when using crime per capita as a benchmark.

Americans want to live in London

Perhaps the most ironic twist in this saga is that London, the city Trump professes to dislike under Khan’s leadership, continues to attract Americans in growing numbers.

In the year leading up to March 2025, a record number of US citizens, more than 6,600, applied for British residency or citizenship, marking the highest total since records began and reflecting a notable surge in American interest in living and working in the UK.

Further analysis suggests that interest from American professionals, families and students has grown sharply, with many citing political and social stability, educational opportunities, and quality of life as key drivers.

London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan has publicly highlighted this trend, saying London’s openness and global appeal help explain why Americans are coming to the city in such numbers, even as President Trump paints a picture of urban decline.

Fazit

Trump’s repeated targeting of Sadiq Khan seems to be more than a passing personal grievance; it serves a larger political purpose. Khan embodies the kind of metropolitan, progressive leadership that Trump’s political base rejects, and London’s status as a global city makes it a potent symbol in culture-war narratives.

Yet the data tells a different story about London’s comparative safety and attractiveness. Crime statistics show that London regularly outperforms major US cities by key metrics, and migration trends reveal that an increasing number of Americans find the city appealing, contradicting many of the negative depictions promoted by Trump and his allies.

Further reading: White House claims iimigration will destroy Europe || Zohran Mamdani elected Mayor of New York City || Supreme Court allows immigration raids in US cities ||

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