For the mayor of London, it’s clear that the rush of Americans applying for British citizenship is connected to the return of Donald Trump to the White House.
Americans applied for British citizenship in record numbers last year, according to Britain’s Home Office, with a big spike in applications logged during the final quarter — a period coinciding with Trump’s reelection.
Speaking at the MIPIM real estate conference in Cannes, France, last week, Khan recalled teasing former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during Trump’s 2017-21 presidential term: “I wanted all the Americans who were leaving America. And he was saying, no, he wanted all the Americans leaving America.”
Now that Canada is very much in Trump’s crosshairs — the US president has repeatedly said the country should become America’s “51st state” — Khan believes London has the stronger hand: “I suspect those Americans are probably not choosing Canada and choosing London.”
More than 6,000 Americans applied for British citizenship in 2024, the most since the Home Office began tracking applications two decades ago. Around 1,700 of those applied during the last three months of the year, almost 40% more than in the same period in 2023.
There is no love lost between Trump and Khan. In a high-profile spat in 2019, Trump called Khan a “stone-cold loser” after the mayor criticized Britain’s decision to invite Trump for a formal state visit.
Khan, London’s mayor since 2016, wrote in The Observer newspaper ahead of the visit that it was “un-British to be rolling out the red carpet” for a US president who amplified the views of the far-right. And the year before, Khan gave his permission for protesters to fly a 20-foot-tall “Trump baby” balloon near Britain’s Houses of Parliament during Trump’s first presidential visit to the United Kingdom.
During a state visit, foreign leaders are welcomed to Britain by the reigning monarch and are treated to a carriage procession to Buckingham Palace and a grand banquet. Last month, Prime Minister Keir Starmer — who, like Khan, belongs to Britain’s center-left Labour Party — handed Trump an invitation from King Charles III for the second state visit.
“America is a superpower,” he said. “Just like we feel the ripples of hope and optimism from America, we can often feel the ripples of hatred and negativity.”
Still, the mayor’s approach to Trump appears softer this time around.
“I wish President Trump all the best,” he said, stressing that the two countries are “best mates.” “I hope he’s a successful president. I love America. I love American culture, American people, American politics, American businesses and so, of course, I wish him well.”
But Khan did not rule out allowing another “Trump baby” balloon to fly over London during the president’s next visit, saying he would respond to any applications from protesters “based on (their) merits.”
“Satire and humor and protest are quintessentially British — and actually American —traits,” he said. “Watch ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm.’”