London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said it would not be “appropriate” for Donald Trump to make a state visit to the UK, claiming that Britons oppose the U.S. President’s policies.
“State visits are different from a normal visit and at a time when the President of the USA has policies that many in our country disagree with, I am not sure it is appropriate for our government to roll out the red carpet,’ the mayor of London told CNN.
Prime Minister Theresa May offered the U.S. leader a state visit to Britain seven days after his presidential inaugural, when she became the first foreign leader to visit the White House, which last week confirmed that the visit will take place in 2018.
Khan did not rule out meeting President Trump if given the opportunity, having lashed out at the U.S. premier on several occasions, telling CNN: “If someone has views that I think can be changed I am ready to play my role.
“If you somehow think it is not possible to be a Muslim and a proud westerner I am happy to disabuse you of that idea, whether you are a reporter for CNN or Donald Trump.”
Khan previously demanded Trump’s state visit be cancelled after the president slammed London’s Muslim mayor last month for telling residents of the city there is “no reason to be alarmed” following the London Bridge terror attack which killed seven and injured dozens more.
Speaking to Channel 4 News, Khan said the president’s policies — his then-proposed temporary travel ban on immigration from six nations in the Middle East and North Africa on grounds of securing the safety of American citizens — “go[es] against everything we stand for”.
On a tour of North America last September, two months before the presidential election, Khan said he was a “big fan” of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, and claimed that Trump’s views on Islamic terror attacks “play into the hands” of the Islamic State.
During a stop in Chicago on his first visit to the United States, Khan said he hoped Clinton would win the presidential election in November.
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