Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a rally in Eugene, Oregon, May 6, 2016. (AP/Ted S. Warren)
WASHINGTON — Presidential hopeful Donald Trump has said he would make an exception for London’s new Muslim mayor after he proposed banning all Muslims from entering the United States, the New York Times reported.
The presumed Republican presidential candidate proposed a ban on Muslims entering the country in December, days after terrorists killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California.
Sadiq Khan, elected London mayor on Saturday, had expressed worries that he would not be able to visit the United States were Trump elected in November.
“There will always be exceptions,” Trump told the Times in an interview published Monday.
The brash real estate billionaire — who has alienated many Americans with insults against immigrants, Muslims and women — welcomed Khan’s election.
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“I was happy to see that,” he said. “I think it’s a very good thing, and I hope he does a very good job because frankly that would be very, very good.”
Incoming London Mayor Sadiq Khan gestures during his swearing-in ceremony at Southwark Cathedral in cental London on May 7, 2016. (AFP PHOTO / POOL / Yui Mok)
“If he does a good job, and frankly if he does a great job, that would be a terrific thing,” he added.
Khan, whose parents are Pakistani immigrants, is the first Muslim mayor of a major Western capital.
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“I want to go to America to meet with and engage with American mayors,” he told Time magazine.
“If Donald Trump becomes the president I’ll be stopped from going there by virtue of my faith,” he said, adding he was confident “Donald Trump’s approach to politics” would not win.
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