After another round of early-morning rage tweeting, Trump has managed to create yet another political enemy where there was once an ally. Following the horrible terrorist attack in London Saturday night killed seven people and injured 48 more, Trump seized the opportunity to be an asshole—sort of like he would a woman’s crotch.
Trump first called again for a travel ban in the U.S. Despite the fact that his ban is almost certain to continually fail in the courts due to its very clear anti-Muslim targeting—constantly made more apparent by Trump’s tweets and comments—Trump believes that such a ban would provide additional security.
People, the lawyers and the courts can call it whatever they want, but I am calling it what we need and what it is, a TRAVEL BAN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2017
Moving on from general policy requests, Trump decided to go ahead and attack the mayor of London directly. Sadiq Khan released a statement soon after the attack telling Londoners to not be alarmed by the increased police presence and that everything was under control. Trump, naturally, misunderstood the comment and assumed Khan was saying that the attack itself wasn’t a very big deal.
At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is “no reason to be alarmed!”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2017
Rather than eventually realize that he made a mistake, Trump doubled down on his comments, despite virtually nobody else believing Khan had misspoke.
Pathetic excuse by London Mayor Sadiq Khan who had to think fast on his “no reason to be alarmed” statement. MSM is working hard to sell it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2017
And finally, after all this, Khan has requested that Trump’s state visit be canceled. He called on the British government to not “roll out the red carpet” for a man who so fundamentally seems opposed to British values. Speaking to Channel 4 News, Khan said:
I don’t think we should roll out the red carpet to the president of the U.S.A. in the circumstances where his policies go against everything we stand for. When you have a special relationship it is no different from when you have got a close mate. You stand with them in times of adversity but you call them out when they are wrong. There are many things about which Donald Trump is wrong.
Kahn tried to phrase his comments as if Trump is just a friend who needs to be corrected, but we’re far enough into this presidency to wonder if there are any foreign heads of state who actually believe Trump to be a friend. Well, except for the Russians, of course.