London’s mayor Sir Sadiq Khan has defended his past attacks on Donald Trump, telling Sky News that standing up for the city “does mean sometimes saying boo to a goose”.
But in a major U-turn since calling on the government to ban the US president’s 2019 UK state visit, when he was asked if Mr Trump would be welcome this time, he declared: “Absolutely!”
Sir Sadiq, who was knighted in the King’s New Year’s Honours, was interviewed by Sky News as he hosted talks with the ambassadors of the European Union‘s 27 member states at a top London hotel.
In the past, the mayor has denounced the president as “ignorant” on Islam, “racist”, “sexist”, “a homophobe” and likened his tactics to “the fascists of the 20th century”.
Asked if he still held those views, he said: “President Trump has fairly and squarely won a second term. Let’s judge President Trump on what he does to his second term rather than what he did in his first term.
“My job as the mayor of this great city is to stand up for our values, stand up for our businesses, stand up for our people. And that does mean sometimes saying boo to a goose.”
And Sir Sadiq did criticise new US vice president JD Vance for claiming in a Valentine’s Day speech at the Munich Security Conference that free speech was in retreat in the UK and Europe.
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“We had a situation a couple of days ago where it was said in words to the effect that the biggest threat facing our country and our continent is a lack of freedom of speech,” said the mayor.
“Woe betide me being criticised for exercising my freedom of speech. Contrary to what JD Vance might think, we have freedom of speech in this country.”
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Sir Sadiq was also critical of the president’s threat of “trade wars and tariffs”, suggesting they could damage American companies doing business in London and the UK.
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“London is the number one city of choice for foreign direct investment for many businesses across the globe,” he said.
“We’ve got many great American companies invested in London, whether it’s in culture – Netflix and many other studios have opened recently in this great city of ours – financial institutions, legal and others currently invested in London.
“We do great business with the USA in terms of services and goods. I want it to carry on. An issue with tariffs and trade wars is that there are more people who lose out from those than win from those.”
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On another Trump state visit, which the president is known to want, the mayor said: “I’d like President Trump to come to London so he can see some of the misunderstandings he has of our city.
“So he can see there is no threat to freedom of speech in this great city of ours. So he can see that actually Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus and Sikhs don’t just tolerate each other, we respect, celebrate and embrace each other.
“So he can see for himself the fact that diversity is a strength, not a weakness. He can see for himself that many people in this great city of ours and country of ours love America, love American culture, indeed in the past have loved American politics and are looking forward to working closely with him going forward.”
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Sir Sadiq also appeared to strike a less hostile tone in his opposition to Heathrow expansion, after previously threatening a legal challenge against a third runway.
“I’m a pro-growth mayor,” he said. “I’m a pro-business mayor, as evidenced by the policies of the last eight years. I want a better Heathrow, not a bigger Heathrow.
“If Heathrow can come up with plans that address issues around noise, around air, around climate change, that pays for the underground M25, re-routing the A4, improvements to Southern Rail, improvements on the Piccadilly line, improvements on the Elizabeth line, we’ll look at them.
“Let’s see what Heathrow’s plans are. What the Climate Change Committee – well respected – has said [is] that any expansion of aviation must abide with our climate change commitments. Let’s wait and see what Heathrow come up with.”
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Denying this was a change in his position, he added: “Not at all. I’m quite clear in relation to standing up for London, but also standing up for our environment, for air quality, for noise pollution and for Londoners.
“And it’s really important to wait for Heathrow to have their plans before I launch a legal challenge against hypotheticals.”
