No red carpet for Trump, says London mayor
BRITAIN: London Mayor Sadiq Khan has renewed his feud with Donald Trump, suggesting there should be no ‘‘rolling out the red carpet’’ for a state visit by the United States president.
Khan told CNN: ‘‘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.’’
British Prime Minister Theresa May extended the invitation of a state visit in January, and it was accepted, but a source in Washington told the Daily Telegraph no preliminary arrangements of any kind had been made.
Khan added: ‘‘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 has vocally opposed Trump’s travel ban against people from a group of predominantly Muslim countries entering the US. After the London Bridge terrorist attack, Trump criticised Khan for telling Londoners there was ‘‘no reason to be alarmed’’ by an increased police presence on the streets.
According to a transcript of a conversation between Trump and May, leaked last weekend, the president has been concerned about the reception he would receive in Britain. He reportedly told May: ‘‘When I know I’m going to get a better reception, I’ll come, and not before.’’
A poll by ABC and The Washington Post, published yesterday, showed that Trump’s approval rating at home has fallen to 34 per cent, with his tweeting habit a major irritant.
Seventy per cent of respondents said he had acted in ‘‘an unpresidential manner’’ since taking office, 68 per cent said they did not see him as a positive role model, 67 per cent disapproved of his use of Twitter, and 56 per cent said his unpresidential conduct was ’’damaging to the presidency overall’’.
Yesterday a US court asked Trump’s staff to turn over records of visitors to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, after a legal challenge from the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (Crew) demanding to know who he had been meeting there.
Meanwhile, controversy continued to surround a meeting between the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr, a Russian lawyer and a Russian former intelligence officer during the election campaign.
The president renewed his defence of his son. He wrote on Twitter: ‘‘Most politicians would have gone to a meeting like the one Don Jr attended in order to get info on an opponent. That’s politics!’’
Among the politicians who disagreed was Martin Schulz, leader of Germany’s Social Democrats, who replied directly to Trump on Twitter: ‘‘Donald Trump, I wouldn’t have gone there. This is not politics.’’ – Telegraph Group