US mayors have backed Sadiq Khan as he leads London in the aftermath of Saturday’s terrorist attack while being criticised on Twitter by Donald Trump.
The US Conference of Mayors, which represents leaders of more than 1,400 cities, said it stood “united with Mayor Sadiq Khan of London and the people of London” following the attack.
They said of Mr Khan: “He has risen above this crisis of death and destruction, as mayors continue to do, to alleviate fear, to bring comfort to his people of London and to give support to the first responders who continue to protect, defend and provide emergency care to his people of London.
“Thank you, Mayor Khan, for your leadership during this crisis.”
Very well said. This blog has been broadly supportive of Trump, recognising the very real issues challenging the American heartlands which he is trying to address and the urgent need to reset international relations into a more productive cycle, where things get better not worse. Trump clearly faces enemies from without and within, yet one is tempted to reach the conclusion that through some peculiar flaws of personality, he is himself his own worst enemy by far. Many Americans now feel he is their own worst enemy too, but this blog is too much outside the US to engage in essentially a partisan debate. Nevertheless there is a real risk that things will begin to run out of the control of what is reported to be the most divided and fractious White House in anybody’s memory.
To halt the slide Trump needs to grasp that the first rule underpinning the authority of a President of the United States, is that the incumbent has to behave like one.