"I know he wanted to be there. I didn’t want to see him," President Trump told reporters on the flight back to the US on 18/9, after concluding his state visit to the UK. "I requested that he not be involved.".

"I think that Mayor Khan of London is one of the worst mayors in the world. I think he’s doing a terrible job".

The US president speaks at a press conference with the British prime minister in London on 18/9. Photo: AP

The US president speaks at a press conference with the British prime minister in London on 18/9. Photo: AP

According to Trump, crime in London has increased "at an unbelievable rate" under Khan's leadership, and he called Khan a "disaster" for his immigration policies.

"I’ve long felt he’s been quite a negative force. I always feel I’m proud of London, I’m proud of the UK, my mother was born in Scotland. He’s done such a poor job, stabbings are up, litter is all over the place and London is not what it used to be. I don’t want to meet him".

Before Trump's plane landed at Stansted Airport near London on 16/9, Sadiq Khan criticized Trump for promoting "division and far-right politics around the world".

The London mayor opposed Trump's immigration deportation policy, as well as his decision to deploy the military to several US cities with large immigrant populations, calling these actions "authoritarian and incompatible with Western values".

The London mayor at an event in the city on 18/9. Photo: PA

The London mayor at an event in the city on 18/9. Photo: PA

These are the latest attacks in a war of words between the two men that began in 2017, when Trump criticized Khan's handling of the London Bridge terror attack.

On the eve of Trump's return to the White House last January, Sadiq Khan warned of the "rise of fascism". Trump responded by calling the London mayor a "stone cold loser" who was "doing a terrible job".

Hong Hanh (Telegraph)