Donald Trump is truly saturating the news cycle and managing to be several places at once as the presumptive Republican nominee. One would hope that — during this preparation phase before the general election — the real estate mogul would smooth over any ruffled feathers on the international front. Yet Trump never plays by the book, and elections still come out in his favor. So, why bother with diplomacy now?
That’s precisely the air he adopted while meeting with Piers Morgan, and the duo discussed Trump’s already messy track record with United Kingdom leaders. For example, appalled members of Parliament have condemned Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric and discussed ways to ban him from their country. Prime Minister David Cameron pulled no punches by adding, “I think his remarks are divisive, stupid, and wrong, and I think if he came to visit our country, I think he’d unite us all against him.” Trump heard about this slight and worked up a retort. His interview with Morgan appeared on Monday’s edition of Good Morning Britain, and Trump said he harbors no illusions of getting along with someone who doesn’t respect him:
“It looks like we’re not going to have a very good relationship. Who knows! I hope to have a good relationship with him but it sounds like he’s not willing to address the problem either. Well, number one I’m not stupid, Okay. I can tell you that, right now — just the opposite. Number two, in terms of divisive: I don’t think I’m a divisive person… unlike our president now, I’m a unifier.”
Trump nearly refuses to get along with Cameron, but still claims to be a unifier, of course. He also fired more shots in the direction of new London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who Trump described as “rude” while speaking to Morgan. This judgment arrives after Khan wasn’t flattered by Trump’s suggestion that he could be an “exception” to his proposed Muslim ban. Trump had made a rare backtrack to say the ban was simply a suggestion, but Khan still wasn’t impressed. So, Trump made an offer (through Morgan) to Khan: “Let’s take an I.Q. test.” Unsurprisingly, Khan didn’t snap up the offer: “Ignorance is not the same thing as lack of intelligence.”