On Friday, Londoners elected Sadiq Khan as mayor. Khan, who belongs to the British Labor Party and who’s served as a member of Parliament since 2005, also happens to be the city’s first-ever Muslim mayor. In an interview with Time, Khan pointed out that his religion could have ramifications on his relationship with the United States if a certain tangerine-coiffed GOP front-runner is elected president — Trump has repeatedly called to ban Muslims from the country.
“I want to go to America to meet with and engage with American mayors,” Khan said, citing Rahm Emanuel and Bill de Blasio in particular. “If Donald Trump becomes the president I’ll be stopped from going there by virtue of my faith, which means I can’t engage with American mayors and swap ideas.” He added that he’ll plan to visit the U.S. before January — just in case.
But in an interview with the New York Times on Monday, Trump — ever the benevolent leader — reassured Khan that there’s no need for concern. In fact, Trump said, he would consider making a special exception to the ban just so London’s new mayor could visit. “There will always be exceptions,” Trump said before adding that he was “happy to see” that Khan was elected. “I think it’s a very good thing, and I hope he does a very good job.”
When asked why he has such high hopes for Khan, Trump replied: “Because I think if he does a great job, it will really — you lead by example, always lead by example. If he does a good job and frankly if he does a great job, that would be a terrific thing.”
As for the rest of the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims, they’ll have to wait to visit America until “our country’s representatives can figure out what’s going on.”
