Donald Trump blames London Mayor Sadiq Khan for terror attacks, saying he has done a 'terrible job'

Donald Trump has blamed London Mayor Sadiq Khan for a series of terror attacks in the UK, saying he had done “a very bad job on terrorism”.

The US President launched a scathing attack on Mr Khan in an interview with The Sun, reigniting a feud between the pair that saw the London Mayor brand the President “ill-informed” last year.

In the interview with The Sun – in which the President also said he thought former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson would make a great Prime Minister – Mr Trump said: “You have a mayor who has done a terrible job in London. He has done a terrible job.

“Take a look at the terrorism that is taking place. Look at what is going on in London. I think he has done a very bad job on terrorism.

“I think he has done a bad job on crime, if you look, all of the horrible things going on there, with all of the crime that is being brought in.”

On Friday, Mr Khan hit back saying he preferred to be the ‘bigger man’.

“President Trump has done lots of tweets about me and I have done very few in response,” he said.

“And President Trump has done very many interviews talking about me.

“When I am asked questions about President Trump I try not to respond and try to be the bigger man.

Mr Trump’s attack comes the London mayor refused to block a plan to fly a giant inflatable “Trump baby” near Parliament to coincide with the US president’s visit to the UK.

Mr Khan defended the decision by the Greater London Authority to allow the 20-foot high blimp, saying it was not for him to be a censor or to decide what is in good or bad taste.

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The pair were involved in a Twitter spat following the London Bridge terror attack in June last year, when Mr Khan said people should not be alarmed by visibly increased security on the streets of the capital.

Mr Trump tweeted in response: “At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is “no reason to be alarmed!”

At the time a spokesman for Mr Khan said Mr Trump had deliberately taken the London mayor’s comments out of context and a spokesman for the mayor declined to comment on the latest interview.

The comments about Mr Khan aren’t the only controversial statements Mr Trump has made less than a day into his visit to the UK.

In the same interview in The Sun, the US President said Boris Johnson has “got what it takes” to be Prime Minister.

Mr Trump had already spoken glowingly about Mr Johnson before flying to the Nato summit in Brussels, saying: “I like Boris Johnson. I’ve always liked him.”

But he went even further in his interview with The Sun, saying: “I was very saddened to see he was leaving government and I hope he goes back in at some point. I think he is a great representative for your country.

“I am just saying I think he would be a great Prime Minister. I think he’s got what it takes.”

He also continued criticism over the Brexit negotiations that he started in Brussels, telling The Sun that Mrs May’s Brexit plan could “kill” any UK-US trade deal because Britain would remain so closely aligned to the European Union.

The US president said he would have done the Brexit negotiations “much differently” and claimed the Prime Minister did not listen to his advice.

He had already used a Thursday morning press conference in Brussels to attack the Prime Minister’s Brexit plan and highlight Cabinet divisions.

In his interview with The Sun, he said: “If they [the UK] do a deal like that, we would be dealing with the European Union instead of dealing with the UK, so it will probably kill the deal.

“If they do that I would say that that would probably end a major trade relationship with the United States.

“I would have done it much differently. I actually told Theresa May how to do it but she didn’t agree, she didn’t listen to me. She wanted to go a different route.”