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Sadiq Khan wants to take Trump for a 'good curry on Brick Lane' to show 'the joys of London's diversity' on state visit
2 March 2025, 12:25
Watch again: Lewis Goodall speaks to Sadiq Khan
Sadiq Khan has said that he will invite Donald Trump for a curry on Brick Lane when he comes to London for a state visit.
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Khan, who has been an outspoken critic of Trump for years, told LBC's Lewis Goodall that he wanted to show him "the joys of our diversity".
Trump was invited for his second state visit during Keir Starmer's trip to Washington on Thursday. Some have called for the invite to be scrapped since the US president's explosive row with Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday.
The London mayor said that despite his personal views on Trump, it was "important to engage with the president of the USA."
Khan is not alone among top Labour politicians in having criticised Trump during his first term, when the party was in opposition.
Now that they have come to power and have to work with the US president, senior Labour figures such as Foreign Secretary David Lammy and US ambassador Peter Mandelson have sought to row back from their earlier comments.
Khan told Lewis: "People know my views about Donald Trump. That's not going to change."
But he said that a second state visit would be a chance to persuade Mr Trump of the positives of diversity.
"If he does come to London, what I'd invite him to do is spend time at Trafalgar Square, maybe on St. Patrick's Day or Lunar New Year, or Eid in the square, or Diwali in the square," the mayor said.
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"I think it is important to actually bust some of these myths. I think it's important to show those people who believe the contrary that diversity is a strength, not a weakness."
Asked if he would accompany Trump to some of London's so-called 'no-go areas', he said: "I'd invite President Trump for a good curry in Brick Lane (in east London), maybe go and visit a place of worship in London, but also his team as well."
He added: "I say in a non-patronising way, a lot of prejudice comes from pre-judging, and actually one of the joys of the great city of London is our diversity.
"So if it is the case, if it is the case that President Trump comes to London, it's an opportunity to show President Trump the joys of our diversity. And by the way, that includes not just religious minorities, ethnic minorities, but people of different sexual orientations as well."
Despite calls for the state visit invitation to be cancelled, Starmer said on Sunday he was not going to be "diverted" from the main mission of Ukraine diplomacy.
The Prime Minister dismissed people "trying to ramp up the rhetoric".
SNP leader John Swinney said that the visit should be axed unless Trump agrees to security guarantees for Ukraine.
He told LBC: "I don't know why we're talking about a second state visit for President Trump when there is such uncertainty over President Trump's support for the efforts to protect Ukraine and to secure her independence."
