President Donald Trump fired back at London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s direct attack on him, taking to Twitter Monday morning as he landed in the UK to dismiss the outspoken left-wing politician as a “stone cold loser”.

The Tweets — which President Trump appeared to make while flying over British airspace but before Air Force One touched town — followed an article about the President London Mayor Sadiq Khan wrote for Britain’s perhaps best known old-left Sunday newspaper The Observer. Writing the day before the state visit was due to begin, Khan compared Trump to most fascist and authoritarian leaders of the past century.

PICS: President Trump Lands in UK for State Visit, Will Meet with Queen, May https://t.co/uWOoScknPt — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) June 3, 2019

Replying in kind, President Trump pointed to Khan’s poor record as Mayor, which has seen crime and particularly violent crime and murder soar, and suggested the Labour party politician spend more time doing his job properly rather than attacking the leaders of key British allies.

As well as roasting Khan’s “terrible” attempt at leading London, the President also said the Mayor had been foolish, was a “stone cold loser”, and was much like the “very dumb and incompetent” New York Mayor de Blasio.

….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. 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! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 3, 2019

Making clear reference to the persistent campaign by leftist figures and campaign groups in the United Kingdom to sour the relationship with the U.S., President Trump stated Khan’s intervention had been for nothing, given: “I look forward to being a great friend to the United Kingdom, and am looking very much forward to my visit.”

President Trump landed Monday in a London which, official figures show, is less safe and more plagued by violent crime now than when Mayor Khan took office in 2016. Breitbart London reported last week on the third anniversary of Khan taking office, which was met by a report on his effectiveness by a rival group in city hall which highlighted key statistics in a damning review of his time in power.

According to the review of police and other figures, under Mayor Khan knife crime has risen by 52 per cent, robbery by 59 per cent, and gun crime by 30 per cent. Perhaps most damningly, homicides have risen by 24 per cent and are now at their highest in over a decade.

Khan also grabbed negative headlines in 2016 when, in response to a terror attack, he responded casually that terror is: “Part and parcel of living in a great global city is you’ve got to be prepared for these things, you’ve got to be vigilant.” Critics said the remarks implied a level of acceptance of political violence in the British capital.

While Khan Blames Crime Wave on Cuts, Fall in Police Numbers Could Be Plugged by Redeploying ‘Hate Crime’ Officers https://t.co/MVJ0faBhsT — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 26, 2018

Despite crime rising at a rate out of all proportion with the rest of the country, Mayor Khan denies responsibility and blames central government for the criminal surge in his city. The report accused Mayor Khan of playing a “blame game” with crime despite alleged wasteful spending on vanity projects with money that — it is claimed — the mayor could have chosen to divert on front line policing instead.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt was one of a small number of dignitaries to welcome President Trump off Airforce One as it touched down at London’s Stanstead Airport Monday morning, and speaking to broadcaster Sky News shortly afterwards reflected on the events that led up to the war of words between the President and Mayor Khan.

Appearing to lay the blae at Khan’s door, Hunt said: “…the elected Mayor of London has made some pretty choice insults about Donald Trump, and all I would say is that spat started because the Mayor of London and other people in the Labour Party decided to boycott this visit, and I think that is just totally inappropriate.”

Happy Khaniversary! Significant Rise in Crime in 3 Years Under London Mayor: Report https://t.co/7jlscNnkXI — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) May 30, 2019

Hunt went further, launching his own attack on the Labour Party of which Khan is a member which has seen a rapid succession of scandals, particularly over anti-Semitism, in recent years. He said: “This is a State visit, not a political visit, [the President is being] hosted by Her Majesty the Queen to mark the great friendship between our two countries.

“For the Labour Party to be boycotting this visit on the grounds of sexism and racism on a day where their candidate in the Peterborough by-election is being accused of liking an anti-Semitic post on Facebook, when they are being accused of turning a blind eye to the terrible behaviour in the Labour Party HQ, this is about virtue signalling on Labour’s behalf, this isn’t about any position of principle.”

Over the weekend, Mayor Khan criticised the Stare Visit going ahead despite his boycott, and compared President Trump to a host of dictators. Writing in his Observer column, Khan likened Trump to 1930s dictators, 1970s military juntas, Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong-Un, and said it was “un-British” to offer a welcome to what he called the “global threat” President of the United States.

The comments are the latest in a long-running dispute between the leader of the free world and the Mayor of London. Breitbart London reported in 2018 before the last visit of President Trump to the United Kingdom, when he reflected on the deteriorating security situation and noted, in particular, the Mayoralty of Sadiq Khan.

The President said then: “You have a mayor who has done a terrible job in London. He has done a terrible job.

“Take a look at the terrorism that is taking place. Look at what is going on in London. I think he has done a very bad job on terrorism,” he added.

Oliver JJ Lane is the editor of Breitbart London — Follow him on Twitter and Facebook