Donald Trump has claimed mass immigration has made London “unrecognizable” after Europe “opened its doors to jihad”, insisting he would “never” allow the same to happen in the United States.
The former US president’s remarks, made to supporters at an election rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday, are the 77-year-old’s latest broadside directed at the UK capital and risk reigniting his long-running feud with the mayor of London. , Sadiq Khan.
‘We have seen what happened when Europe opened its doors to jihad. “Look at Paris, look at London, you’re not recognizable anymore,” Trump told his supporters at a May Day rally as he began his election campaign away from his legal troubles.
‘I’m going to get in a lot of trouble with the people in Paris and the people in London, but you know what, that’s the fact. “They are no longer recognizable and we cannot allow that to happen to our country.”
‘We have an incredible culture and tradition. There is nothing wrong in their culture, in their tradition; We cannot allow that to happen here and I will never allow it to happen in the United States of America.’
Sadiq Khan then responded to Trump’s comments.
“Today is a chance to show Donald Trump and my Conservative opponent that London will always choose hope over fear and unity over division. This election will be close. Polls are open until 10pm tonight and you will need ID with a photograph to vote,” he told MailOnline.
‘We have seen what happened when Europe opened its doors to jihad. “Look at Paris, look at London, you’re not recognizable anymore,” Trump told his supporters at a May Day rally in Wisconsin.
Wednesday’s rally marked Trump’s return to the campaign trail despite his legal troubles in New York.
“Today is an opportunity to show Donald Trump and my Conservative opponent that London will always choose hope over fear and unity over division,” Khan told MailOnline.
Before a visit to London in 2018, while he was sitting president, Trump criticized Khan for having “done a terrible job in London.”
Khan responded, telling the Huffington Post that he would be happy to meet with Trump to explain to him “in a respectful and courteous way where I think he’s wrong on a couple of issues.”
In another exchange, Trump said he felt Khan had “done a very bad job on terrorism.”
The same year, when Trump arrived in the UK capital for a state visit, protesters received permission from Khan’s office to blow up a blimp showing Trump dressed as a baby while crying.
In 2016, Trump had a similar dispute with then-Mayor of London Boris Johnson, when he stated during the election campaign: “London and other places… are so radicalized that the police fear for their own lives.”
Johnson called Trump “misinformed.”
“The only reason I wouldn’t go to some parts of New York is the real risk of running into Donald Trump,” he joked.
Two years later, Trump told then-Prime Minister Theresa May that there were “no-go zones” in London due to the presence of jihadists. May later said that she disagreed with her statement.
In 2016, while Boris Johnson was mayor of London, he joked that he would not travel to New York for fear of running into Trump, but the two later mended their relationship.
In 2018, Trump claimed that Islamic radicalization had turned parts of London into “no-go areas”, but then-Prime Minister Theresa May disagreed.
The huge inflatable shows the US president in a diaper and holding a mobile phone.
Trump’s latest comments also come as police across the United States are dismantling pro-Palestinian camps that have been set up by students on college campuses across the country.
Those camps have been sites of violence, particularly the fights seen between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian supporters at UCLA in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Speaking about the protests, Trump encouraged officials to continue their dismissals.
‘I tell all university presidents to remove the camps immediately. “We will defeat the radicals and reclaim our campuses for all regular students who want a safe place to learn,” he said.
Trump’s comments at events in the battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan were closely watched after he was fined $9,000 for making public statements about people connected to the criminal case.
In imposing the fine for posts on Trump’s Truth Social account and campaign website, Judge Juan M. Merchán said that if Trump continued to violate his orders, he would “impose a punishment of imprisonment.”
‘There is no crime. I have a corrupt judge. He is a totally confrontational judge,’ Trump told his supporters at an event in Waukesha, Wisconsin, again stating that this and other cases against him are directed by the White House to undermine his campaign.
Earlier this week, Trump was fined $9,000 for violating a gag order in his case involving Stormy Daniels.
Trump photographed with porn star Stormy Daniels in 2006
The former president is trying to pull off a balancing act unprecedented in American history by running for a second term as the presumptive Republican nominee while also fighting felony charges in New York.
Trump frequently attacks Merchan, prosecutors and potential witnesses at his rallies and on social media, lines of attack that play well with his supporters but have potentially put him in greater legal jeopardy.
Later, at a rally in Freeland, Michigan, he said he was being forced to spend days in a “kangaroo courtroom” and claimed, without evidence, that the district attorney was taking orders from the Biden administration.
‘I have to do two of these things a day. You know why? Because I’m in New York all the time with the Biden trial,” she said. ‘It is a false trial. They’re doing it to try to take away your powers, to try to take away your candidate.’
Even before the hush money trial began on April 15, Trump has held only a handful of public campaign events since becoming his party’s presumptive nominee in March.
The gag order prohibits him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and others related to his money case in order to maintain his silence. Trump is still free to criticize the judge and district attorney.
Trump insists he is simply exercising his right to free speech, but the offensive posts from his Truth Social account and campaign website were removed. Merchan is weighing other alleged violations of the gag order and will hear arguments Thursday.
Attendees agreed that he is being unfairly prosecuted and said the trial and gag order were designed to distract him.
Later, at a rally in Freeland, Michigan, he said he was being forced to spend days in a ‘kangaroo courtroom’ and claimed, without evidence, that the district attorney was taking orders from the Biden administration.
‘I have to do two of these things a day. You know why? Because I’m in New York all the time with the Biden trial,” she said. ‘It is a false trial. They do it to try to take away your powers, to try to take away your candidate.
“It’s a trial in search of a crime,” said Ray Hanson of Hartford. Hanson said he hoped Trump’s lawyers would “keep him in line” so that he doesn’t violate the gag order, as much as he probably wants to talk about the trial.
Manhattan prosecutors have argued that Trump and his associates participated in an illegal scheme to influence the 2016 presidential campaign by buying and then burying negative stories. He has pleaded not guilty.
Trump’s visits to Wisconsin and Michigan mark his second trip to swing states in just a month.
At previous rallies, the former president focused primarily on immigration, referring to people who are in the United States illegally and suspected of committing crimes as “animals.”
