(LONDON) — Students shut out of U.S. universities by President Donald Trump’s administration should instead come to the U.K., London Mayor Sadiq Khan told an event on Monday, as he criticized governments that engage in “narrow” and damaging nationalism.
Lauding London as a “beacon of hope, progress and possibility,” Khan told attendees at the Concordia Europe Summit that the city will push back against movements “towards closed societies and countries that want to cut themselves off from the world, abdicate their responsibilities under the rule-based global order and stoke a narrow form of nationalism that divides their populations into insiders and outsiders.”
“To pick one country entirely at random, I’ve got to say we’re delighted that record numbers of Americans are applying for British citizenship or to live and work here, and that many are choosing to settle in London,” Khan continued.
“Our city will always offer newcomers a warm welcome,” the mayor said. “The same goes for any overseas students considering where to head next. If the U.S. is closed to you, we’ll make sure that London is open, because we value and celebrate the contribution foreign students made to our society, our economy and our culture.”
Those governments seeking to “put the brakes on globalization or unwind it as much as they can to their perceived advantage,” are engaging in “an entirely self-defeating exercise that will do immense damage to your own economy and those of your allies and trade partners,” Khan said.
Khan — a prominent member of the U.K.’s center-left Labour Party — did not explicitly mention the Trump administration in his address. The two men have repeatedly criticized each other in the past.
When Khan was running for mayor of London in 2015, he said Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims entering the U.S. was “outrageous.” Khan, who is from British Pakistani background, later said he hoped Trump would “lose badly” in the 2016 presidential election. During Trump’s first term, Khan lobbied the British government to cancel the president’s 2017 state visit.
Trump has characterized Khan’s criticism as “very nasty,” accused the three-term mayor of doing a “terrible job” and dismissed him as a “stone cold loser.”
European nations are mobilizing to attract students and researchers blocked from their work in the U.S., as the Trump administration seeks to curtail funding for U.S. institutions linked to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
The Trump administration is also targeting universities it accuses of doing too little to suppress pro-Palestinians protests against Israel’s war in Gaza — protests the White House has broadly characterized as antisemitic.
The European Union last month launched a $566 million plan for 2025-2027 “to make Europe a magnet for researchers.” The U.K., meanwhile, is preparing its own $67 million plan to attract foreign researchers.
Khan on Monday addressed those who are “no longer comfortable with their political climate” to “come to London, because we’re ready to roll out the red carpet to business leaders, tech entrepreneurs, high net-worth individuals, creatives, students, whoever it may be.”
“If you value certainty and stability, freedom and democracy, pluralism and mutual respect, then London is the place to be,” the mayor said.
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