Craig Munro
Published December 9, 2025 5:57pm
Updated December 9, 2025 5:57pm
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Donald Trump did not single out any European leaders in his interview, except Sir Sadiq Khan (Picture: EPA)
US President Donald Trump has launched a dramatic new attack on his country’s allies in Europe, saying its ‘weak’ leaders are letting their nations be ‘destroyed’.
In a new interview, Trump also let rip on one of his old favourite targets – London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, who he describes as ‘horrible, vicious, disgusting’.
And he also took the opportunity to call for elections in Ukraine as he accused Volodymyr Zelensky of not reading US peace proposals.
The President’s latest outburst comes at a tense time for transatlantic relations, with negotiations over an end to Russia’s invasion proving sticky.
Speaking to Politico, Trump said there was ‘no question’ that Russia is in the stronger position in those talks as it is ‘a much bigger country’.
He said: ‘It’s a big problem for Europe. And they’re not handling it well.’
Asked about new security strategy his government unveiled last week, which argues the US must ‘cultivate resistance’ across Europe to prevent its ‘civilisational erasure’, Trump argued if the continent stays on its current course, ‘many of those countries will not be viable countries any longer’.
He said: ‘I think they’re weak, but I also think that they want to be so politically correct.
‘I think they don’t know what to do. Europe doesn’t know what to do.’
Sir Keir Starmer met Volodymyr Zelensky on Downing Street yesterday (Picture: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Particular ire was saved for Sir Sadiq, who the President raised unprompted several times in the interview.
Trump told the news site: ‘He’s a horrible mayor. He’s an incompetent mayor, but he’s a horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor.
‘I think he’s done a terrible job. London’s a different place. I love London. I love London. And I hate to see it happen.’
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Elsewhere, he vaguely accused Sir Sadiq of having ‘a totally different ideology of what he’s supposed to have’.
Sir Sadiq has been a focus of the President’s rage for the best part of a decade (Picture: Daniel Ramalho/AFP)
Speaking separately to Politico, the Mayor said: ‘I literally have no idea why President Trump is so obsessed with this mayor of London.
‘I’m not sure what he’s got against a liberal, progressive, diverse, successful city like London.’
Previously, the President brought up Sir Sadiq in a rambling speech at the United Nations, accusing him of wanting to institute Sharia law in London.
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In response to that tirade, the Mayor told Metro: ‘I think he’s got a crush on me. It’s either that or he believes in giving me squatters’ rights inside his head.’
Negotiations over an end to the war in Ukraine have stepped up in recent weeks, though little progress appears to have been made on the two sides’ irreconcilable red lines.
Zelensky said today he has ‘no right’ to surrender any of his country’s land under Ukrainian or international law, while Russian President Vladimir Putin has insisted the Donbas region in the east is handed to Russia.
Ukraine is expected to submit its latest peace proposals to the US as soon as today.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
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