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Donald Trump Says He Probably Won't Get Along Too Well With the British Prime Minister

The US presidential hopeful said on Monday that he was none too happy about the criticisms of his approach made by the UK prime minister and new London mayor Sadiq Khan.
Photo by Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA

In case anybody is still unaware, Donald Trump really doesn't like being called stupid — and he's definitely not too fussed about diplomacy.

In an interview aired on Monday the presidential hopeful told a UK television station that he would likely have a rocky relationship with David Cameron because the British prime minister had called his proposal for a entry ban on Muslims "divisive, stupid and wrong."

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After Trump proposed a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States, Cameron criticized him in parliament and suggested that Britain would unite against him if he visited.

The US is Britain's closest ally and political leaders from both nations often speak of how the countries enjoy a special relationship.

But when asked how ties would be if he won power in the November 8 election, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee told Britain's ITV television station: "It looks like we're not going to have a very good relationship, who knows." He didn't care about Cameron's views, Trump said.

Related: Britain Really, Really Hates Donald Trump

Asked if he would like the British leader to retract his comments, Trump said: "Well, number one I am not stupid, okay, I can tell you that right now. Just the opposite. And number two in terms of divisive, I don't think I'm divisive. I'm a unifier, unlike our president now, I'm a unifier.

"I hope to have a good relationship with him but it sounds like he's not willing to address the problem either," Trump added.

The property tycoon also reserved some ire for the newly elected mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who last week labeled his views on Islam "ignorant." Trump suggested he would make an exception to his hypothetical ban on Muslims in the case of Khan, the son of Pakistani immigrants to the UK — an offer that was swiftly rejected.

"This isn't just about me — it's about my friends, my family, and everyone who comes from a background similar to mine, anywhere in the world," said Khan, adding that Trump's "ignorant view of Islam could make both our countries less safe."

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Trump, who had initially wished Khan well, said he was offended by the criticism.

Related: London's Muslim Mayor Tells Donald Trump That His Offer Sucks

"He doesn't know me, never met me, doesn't know what I am all about. I think they are very rude statements. Frankly, tell him I will remember those statements. They are very nasty statements," Trump said. "It is ignorant for him to say that," he added, challenging the mayor — who was elected by the biggest personal mandate in British electoral history — to an IQ test.

Khan responded by repeating his assertions after the interview was aired. "Donald Trump's views are ignorant, divisive and dangerous — it's the politics of fear at its worst and will be rejected at the ballot box just as it was in London," his spokesperson said.

"Sadiq has spent his whole life fighting extremism, but Trump's remarks make that fight much harder for us all — it plays straight into the extremists' hands and makes both our countries less safe."

Asked about the IQ test challenge, the spokesperson said: "Ignorance is not the same thing as lack of intelligence."

Cameron earlier this month refused to retract his "divisive, stupid, and wrong" comment but said that Trump deserved respect for making it through the grueling Republican primary process.

Related: A Muslim Bus Driver's Son Has Just Beaten a Millionaire Banking Heir to Become the Mayor of London