Sadiq Khan’s claim that he has been “singled out” by “racist” Donald Trump has drawn a stinging rebuke from Reform UK MP Lee Anderson – who branded the London Mayor a “race-baiting little weasel”.

Meanwhile Tory Susan Hall – who was defeated by Mr Khan is last year’s election – was also scathing in her criticism, saying: “As if Donald could be bothered with him.”

Mr Khan has been involved in a series of public spats with Mr Trump dating back to the latter’s election to the White House in 2016.

In an interview in the High Performance podcast released this week, and recorded shortly before Mr Trump’s re-election last week, he reopened old wounds, branding the billionaire “sexist, homophobic, Islamophobic, racist”.

Mr Khan added: “It’s personal, let’s be frank. If I wasn’t this colour, if I wasn’t a practising Muslim, he wouldn’t have come for me.

“He wasn’t criticising me because I’m five foot six. He was coming for me because of – let’s be frank – my ethnicity and my religion, so it’s incredibly personal to me.”

Ashfield MP Mr Anderson did not hold back in his criticism of the Labour Mayor, saying: “Mayor Khan is a race-baiting little weasel who has done more damage to London than the Luftwaffe.

“He needs to shut up as he is putting the special relationship at risk. Maybe that’s what he wants?

“Khan hates to see our country doing well.”

Posting on X, Ms Hall, a member of the London Assembly, said: “Sadiq Khan thinks ⁦@realDonaldTrump⁩ is singling him out – as if Donald could be bothered with him.

“As for calling him a racist just pack it in Sadiq. We are sick to death of the term ‘racist’ being thrown at all of us on the right.”

Early in his first Presidency, Mr Trump criticised his handling of security in London and, at one point, challenging him to an IQ test.

Khan responded by saying it was “remarkable that it’s taken him being president for people to call him out as a racist”.

He also endorsed a prominent protest during Mr Trump’s UK visit in 2019, which featured the so-called “Trump Baby” – a large inflatable blimp caricaturing Mr Trump as a diaper-wearing infant.

The blimp became a symbol of protest against Mr Trump’s policies and approach, particularly resonant with Mr Khan’s view of Mr Trump’s “hard-Right populism.”

Despite the exchanges, Mr Khan has insisted he would be willing to meet Trump, offering to show him London’s diverse communities in hopes of fostering understanding.

Mr Trump’s transition team is said to be angry at his election win being met in the UK and Europe with attacks on his personality.

One defence industry insider told the i newspaper allies felt the reaction “dismisses the fact that America voted convincingly for him and for change”.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and other Cabinet ministers have been striving to build bridges with the US president-elect after his victory last week.

But some Labour heavyweights have doubled down, with senior MP Emily Thornberry, chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, reiterating her belief that Mr Trump is a “racist” and a “sexual predator’.