London Mayor Threatens To Reopen Donald Trump Rift After Swiping At 'Inward-Looking' U.S. On Opening Day Of SXSW London
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has used the opening day keynote of the inaugural SXSW London to criticize an 'inward-looking mentality,' 'uncertainty and political turmoil' in the U.S.
As he laid out why London is a 'creative hotbed, a gateway to the world and a hub for talent, trade, tech and innovation,' Khan threatened to reopen rifts between himself and Donald Trump.
More from Deadline
In Da Anti-Clemency Club: No Sean "Diddy" Combs Pardon From Trump, 50 Cent Vows
Paramount Plan To Pay Off Trump Sparks California Senate Probe, Requests For Ex-CBS News Brass To Testify
'60 Minutes' Veteran Lesley Stahl Expects To Soon Be "Mourning, Grieving" Paramount Settlement Of "Frivolous" Trump Lawsuit
'We believe we can do business in a way that achieves commercial gains at the same time as advancing the common good,' he said of the city for which he has presided for nearly a decade. 'So at the time when there's so much uncertainty and political turmoil across the pond, defined by an inward looking mentality, I'm going to reach out to international investors, businesses and creators to say that London offers you the opposite.'
Khan and the POTUS have a chequered history. They have both been publicly critical of each other over the years, with Trump blasting Khan's record on crime and calling him a 'stone cold loser,' while Khan has described Trump's insults as 'childish.'
Khan used the opening SXSW speech to lay down a marker for London's position on the world stage as the UK negotiates trade deals with the EU, India and U.S.
'London is somewhere that is resolutely pro-business, pro-growth and pro-freedom of expression and by new trade deals – which means the UK is tearing down barriers to trade, not putting up walls – there's never been a better time to come and create, collaborate and invest in our city,' he added. 'Elsewhere, you might see uncertainty and efforts to wind back the clocks on human rights, on individual liberties, on freedom of press, on democracy, but not in London. In London, you find a city which stands strong as a bus against hate and a city which shines bright as a beacon of hope, of progress and of possibility.'
He said the conversations taking place this week at SXSW are 'so consequential' and reiterated a desire for London to be a 'global center for AI investment and innovation.'
Khan joked that his 'Texan friends' who organize SXSW had 'brought the weather' with them on a sunny opening SXSW day in the sometimes 'cold, grey and rainy' UK capital.
He described SXSW as a 'moment of creative synergy' with 'London's spirit meeting Austin's swagger.' 'It's like Big Ben started wearing cowboy boots and made a podcast,' he joked.
SXSW London runs all week, with the likes of Idris Elba and the CEOs of Letterboxd, OnlyFans and Twitch set to address crowds in Shoreditch, East London.
Best of Deadline
Sean 'Diddy' Combs Sex-Trafficking Trial Updates: Cassie Ventura's Testimony, $10M Hotel Settlement, Drugs, Violence, & The Feds
'Poker Face' Season 2 Guest Stars: From Katie Holmes To Simon Hellberg
2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Tonys, Emmys, Oscars & More
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Cromwell Board of Ed ponders next steps amid Title IX investigation
CROMWELL, Conn. (WTNH) — On Tuesday, the Trump administration launched an investigation into Cromwell Public School's Title IX policy, specifically in regards to transgender athletes. The Cromwell Board of Education held a meeting Tuesday night, where people were trying to make sense out of a federal investigation challenging their trans policies. Trump administration probes Cromwell Public Schools on Title IX Out front of Cromwell High School, more than 50 protesters gathered in support of trans rights and chanted, 'What do we want? Trans rights!' After meeting in executive session, the board came out and voted to not respond to the investigations, stating they need more time to review the federal request. 'We have informed OCR, that the decision not to sign the agreement as written, should not be interpreted as unwillingness to engage in a respectful discussion and have requested an extension of time to do so,' Cromwell Board of Education President Celina Kelleher (R) February, President Trump signed an executive order keeping men out of women's sports. Linda McMahon, the U.S. Secretary of Education, is backing it up. 'This administration will fight on every front to protect women's and girls sports, intimate spaces, dormitories, and living quarters, and fraternal and panhellenic organizations,' McMahon said. Cromwell Mayor James Demetriades (D) noted a lot hangs in the balance, nearly $1 million in federal funding. 'They're holding hostage nearly $1 million of federal funding and putting the board of education in the town of Cromwell and possible situation, capitulating on our core values of community and inclusion,' Demetriades said. In 2018, Andrea Yearwood from Cromwell was one of two transgender athletes that took the top spots in a state track competition, setting new women's records. Their participation sparked protests and later a lawsuit. Now nearly seven years later, a federal investigation. Now students are wondering how this will affect their daily lives, as no decision has been made, and policies hang in the balance. The Board of Ed and the mayor are now looking to the state for guidance. 'Reach out to your representatives, ask the state of Connecticut to help enforce its own rules and its own laws and make sure that our most vulnerable children are protected,' Demetriades said. Dr. Enza Macri, the Superintendent of Cromwell Public Schools released a statement saying in part they make it a priority to create a welcoming and nurturing environment for all students. At the same time they're fully committed to following federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination. Read the full letter below issued to Cromwell Superintendent Dr. Enza Macri. Cromwell-Schools-letterDownload Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Johnson blasts House ‘big, beautiful' bill, backs Musk
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) on Tuesday blasted the megabill featuring President Trump's tax cut and spending priorities and backed tech billionaire Elon Musk's recent comments on it. In an interview on NewsNation's 'The Hill,' host Blake Burman brought up an earlier post from Musk on the social platform X in which he called the legislation a 'disgusting abomination.' 'I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,' Musk said in his post. 'Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.' 'He's telling the truth, you know I'm — that's all I'm doing too,' Johnson said of Musk's comments. The 'One Big, Beautiful Bill' legislation, which made it through the House last month, prolongs Trump's 2017 tax cuts and bolsters funding for defense and border priorities. It also makes cuts to spending on social safety net programs like Medicaid and food aid. 'The trajectory of deficits is up, and no matter what the 'big, beautiful bill' does, it does not address that long term prospect, it does not bend the deficit curve down,' Johnson said Tuesday. 'It supports it going up.' Musk had said previously in an interview on 'CBS Sunday Morning' that he was 'disappointed' to see the 'big, beautiful' legislation make it through the House. 'I was, like, disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit … and it undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,' Musk said in the interview. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' faces resistance from Republican senators over debt fears
President Donald Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" is facing criticism, even from within his own party, as some lawmakers remain skeptical about the massive spending package and its potential impact on the nation's debt, despite it being under consideration by a Republican-controlled Congress. The spending bill, which the House passed late last month and is now in the Senate's hands, aims to address a number of issues, including tax policy, border security and immigration, defense, energy production, the debt limit, and adjustments to SNAP and Medicaid. However, without a serious overhaul, lawmakers like Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is still a "no" on the legislation because it will increase the nation's debt limit. He is among a group of at least four Republican senators who have expressed concerns over Trump's bill, because of the package's projected increase in the national debt. Rand Paul Says He Would Support 'Big, Beautiful Bill' If Debt Ceiling Hike Removed This week, Paul relayed his concerns to media members that the bill will raise the debt ceiling by $5 trillion. "We have never raised the debt ceiling without actually meeting that target," he said. "So you can say it doesn't directly add to the debt, but if you increase the ceiling $5 trillion, you'll meet that. And what it does is it puts it off the back-burner. And then we won't discuss it for a year or two." Read On The Fox News App As of Tuesday, the national debt, which measures what the U.S. owes its creditors, was $36.2 trillion, according to the Treasury Department. Trump pushed back on Paul's remarks about his bill. Trump Warns Rand Paul He's Playing Into 'Hands Of The Democrats' With 'Big, Beautiful Bill' Opposition "Rand Paul has very little understanding of the BBB, especially the tremendous GROWTH that is coming. He loves voting 'NO' on everything, he thinks it's good politics, but it's not. The BBB is a big WINNER!!!" Trump wrote on TRUTH Social. Meanwhile, the national deficit, which occurs when the federal government's spending exceeds its revenues, was $1 trillion as of Tuesday, according to Treasury Department data. On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the "blatantly wrong claim that the 'One, Big, Beautiful Bill' increases the deficit is based on the Congressional Budget Office and other scorekeepers who use shoddy assumptions and have historically been terrible at forecasting across Democrat and Republican administrations alike." Sen. Ron Johnson Proposes 'Line-by-line' Cuts To Pass Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' The outlook for the federal debt level is bleak, as FOX Business previously reported, with economists increasingly sounding the alarm over the torrid pace of spending by Congress and the White House. Under the terms of the bill, the bill would add over $2 trillion to budget deficits over a decade, according to a recent analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). All together, the tax cuts and reforms in the package add nearly $3.8 trillion to the deficit over a decade – though spending reductions in other parts of the bill offset some of that to arrive at the $2.3 trillion figure. Elon Musk, who ended his tenure last week as Trump's lead in the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), doubled down on his position Tuesday that the House's reconciliation package was an "abomination." White House Stands By Tax Bill After Musk Calls It A 'Disgusting Abomination' "I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore," Musk posted on X Tuesday. "This massive, outrageous, pork-filled congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it." The Trump administration and some congressional Republicans have pushed back on the estimates of the bill, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and its impact on the deficit, arguing that economic growth from the tax cuts will stimulate economic activity and lead to more tax revenue than what is projected. Speaker Johnson Clashes With Rand Paul Over 'Wimpy' Spending Cuts In Trump's Bill "Hope it does a lot to get some further cuts," Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., told Fox News about the bill. "We don't want to bankrupt the country. And what Elon also should recognize is we don't need more solar and EV credits. That actually makes it worse. He probably knows that, though." To push back on the criticism, the White House launched a website where Americans can tabulate how much the bill will personally save them. The House passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on May 22 with a narrow 215-214-1 vote that went largely along party lines. If that version of the bill is revised by the Senate, the legislation will have to go back to the House for another vote before it can go to Trump's desk and become article source: Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' faces resistance from Republican senators over debt fears
