Sir Sadiq Khan has hit back at Donald Trump, telling diplomats to push back on “propaganda” coming from the US president. Trump has lashed out several times at Khan, calling him a “terrible mayor” and a “nasty person”, and has made unfounded claims about crime and sharia law in London.
On Tuesday, after a meeting with British diplomats, the mayor said London had its problems but was safer than most US cities. “A lot of this misinformation, disinformation and lies comes from the United States of America,” Khan said, according to Reuters. “It's really important to counter the propaganda coming from President Trump.”
Crime data shows that London’s murder rate fell to its lowest in over a decade last year, despite a rise in population by around 1 million since 2010. The rate is around 1.1 per 100,000 residents, compared with 2.8 in New York and 12.4 in Philadelphia.
Sir Sadiq said that social media posts making false claims about London could deter people from visiting, studying, investing or living in the city. In response, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said that “left-wing policies of unfettered migration and destructive globalism have made once-great cities like London unrecognisable”.
Violent crime has shown a general downward trend, but Sir Sadiq acknowledged in January that some residents may feel the city is “lawless” due to shoplifting and phone thefts. Phone theft is up 25% over five years, while shoplifting has gone up 54% since 2023. “I fully accept that perception of crime,” he told the BBC.
The exchange continues a long-running feud dating back to 2015, when Trump suggested banning all Muslims from travelling to the US. In early March, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood criticised “misinformation” about claims of sharia law relating to London, stating that “there is a lot of misinformation that is often put out about what’s happening in London”.
