Trump starts his UK state visit with unhinged attack on the mayor of its capital

So much for diplomacy.

Before he even landed in the U.K. for a three-day state visit, Trump squandered his chance to look presidential by firing off a series of childish and unbecoming tweets attacking London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

“@SadiqKhan, who by all accounts has done a terrible job as Mayor of London, has been foolishly ‘nasty’ to the visiting President of the United States, by far the most important ally of the United Kingdom,” Trump tweeted before he even touched down for the trip. “He is a stone cold loser who should focus on crime in London, not me.”

Trump continued his rant against Khan with a second tweet that misspelled Khan’s name as he hurled more schoolyard insults at the mayor.

“Kahn reminds me very much of our very dumb and incompetent Mayor of NYC, de Blasio, who has also done a terrible job – only half his height,” Trump tweeted. “In any event, I look forward to being a great friend to the United Kingdom, and am looking very much forward to my visit. Landing now!”

Khan has been a vocal critic of Trump, writing in an op-ed ahead of Trump’s visit that it is “un-British” to give Trump an official “red carpet” welcome to the U.K., given that Trump’s bearhug of white supremacists and praise of the far-right is causing strife all over the European Union.

“It’s so un-British to be rolling out the red carpet this week for a formal state visit for a president whose divisive behaviour flies in the face of the ideals America was founded upon — equality, liberty and religious freedom,” Khan wrote in an op-ed in the Guardian.

Of course, Khan is allowed to criticize Trump. In fact, his criticism was measured and based on fact.

Trump, however, chooses to respond to criticism with taunts that a middle school bully would deploy.

Maybe it’s because Trump is upset at the massive protests and big balloon depicting Trump as a baby that the Brits have planned in response to his visit. Or maybe he’s bitter that he won’t be able to stay at Buckingham Palace like other U.S. presidents before him.

Still, it’s clear that the 72-year-old leader of the free world can’t control himself like a normal adult.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.