The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan says the ‘childish insults’ uttered by US President Donald Trump as he landed in the UK are “beneath the President of the United States’.

Mr Trump called Mr Khan a “stone cold loser” on the first day of his State visit to the UK today.

As Air Force One came in to land at London’s Stansted Airport this morning, Mr Trump fired a Twitter broadside at London Mayor Mr Khan, writing: “@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. He is a stone cold loser who should focus on crime in London, not me……

“…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.”

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A spokesman for Sadiq Khan said: “This is much more serious than childish insults which should be beneath the President of the United States.

“Sadiq is representing the progressive values of London and our country, warning that Donald Trump is the most egregious example of a growing far-right threat around the globe, which is putting at risk the basic values that have defined our liberal democracies for more than 70 years.”

Mr Trump was accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump as they disembarked from Air Force One at Stansted.

Prior to his departure from Washington DC last night, Mr Trump said his visit to the UK will be “very important” and spoke of “an opportunity for a very big trade deal at some point in the near future” before he left Washington.

“There’s a lot going on in the UK and I’m sure it’s going to work out very well for them,” he told reporters at the White House.

“As you know, they want to do trade with the United States and I think there’s an opportunity for a very big trade deal at some point in the near future, and we’ll see how that works out.”

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On potentially meeting Tory leadership candidate Boris Johnson, Mr Trump said: “Well I may meet with him, he’s been a friend of mine, he’s been very nice. I have a very good relationship with him.”

The president added: “I have a very good relationship with Nigel Farage, with many people over there (in the UK) and we’ll see what happens. I may meet with him. They want to meet. We’ll see what happens.”

Mr Trump said he made “no bad comment” when asked about an interview in which he suggested Meghan Markle was “nasty”.

Asked about the interview, Mr Trump replied: “No, I made no bad comment. Thank you.”

During an interview with The Sun, the president was confronted with comments Meghan made before the 2016 US election saying she would leave the country if he won.

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Mr Trump told the paper’s political editor “I didn’t know that she was nasty” in the taped interview.

Mr and Mrs Trump stepped off Air Force One amid windy conditions and were greeted by US Ambassador to the UK Woody Johnson and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

The president appeared to salute a police officer who was also there to meet him.

He briefly held hands with Melania as they walked to their helicopter, Marine One.

Mr Trump will leave the UK on Wednesday, and will travel to Doonbeg in Co Clare, where he will stay for one night at his Trump resort.

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