Donald Trump's sons Eric and Donald Jr back his barbed attacks on Sadiq Khan

'Maybe rather than the Mayor of London attacking, maybe he should do something about it,' says President's eldest son

Donald Trump’s sons have defended their father’s scathing attack on Sadiq Khan and argued the London Mayor is in denial about the terror attacks which have plagued London in recent months.

President Trump sparked heavy criticism for his one-sided Twitter tirade against Mr Khan in the wake of the London Bridge terror attack which left seven dead and dozens injured. In the immediate aftermath, Mr Trump wholly misconstrued quotes from Mr Khan, wrongly claiming the mayor had said there was “no reason to be alarmed” about the risk of terror attacks in London.

After Mr Khan's spokesperson said that the US President had “deliberately” taken his remarks “out of context”, Mr Trump doubled down on his comments. He said: “Pathetic excuse by London Mayor Sadiq Khan who had to think fast on his ‘no reason to be alarmed’ statement. MSM [Mainstream media] is working hard to sell it!”

The billionaire property developer’s sons Donald Trump Jnr and Eric Trump have now rallied behind their father’s barbed attacks on London’s first Muslim Mayor.

Despite the fact Mr Khan has made a point of not responding to President Trump’s barrages of criticism - saying he did not have “the time to respond to tweets from” him – Trump Jnr claimed the mayor should stop attacking his father.

“Maybe rather than the mayor of London attacking, maybe he should do something about it,” Trump Jr told ABC in Trump Tower. “Maybe he should do something to fix the problem rather than just sit there and pretend there isn't one.”

He claimed Mr Khan, who has been busy working in conjunction with the security services and held a vigil for victims of the attack, was not doing enough to tackle terrorism in the wake of the atrocities.

Trump Jnr, the President’s oldest child, added: “We keep appeasing it. And we keep saying, 'Okay, it's gonna be great. We're gonna hold fast and we're gonna keep calm and carry on.’ Maybe we have to keep calm and actually do something.”

Eric, who works alongside his older brother as a trustee of the Trump Organisation, also weighed in on the furore.

He said: “You should be alarmed. Because this has become the new norm. And it's not right. And we, as a society, especially as Americans, better do something about it.”

His reference to “alarm” ties into Mr Trump’s misrepresentation of Mr Khan’s words after the attack. The mogul-turned-politico, who was accused of politicising the attack for his own gain, wrongly claimed the mayor had said there was “no reason to be alarmed” about the risk of terror attacks in London.

“At least seven dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is ‘no reason to be alarmed!’” he said on Twitter.

Nevertheless, the mayor had been telling people not to be alarmed about increased police presence in the capital and in no way telling people they should not be alarmed by the atrocities themselves.

On the contrary, in the wake of the attack, Mr Khan issued a statement saying: “My message to Londoners and visitors to our great city is to be calm and vigilant today. You will see an increased police presence today, including armed officers and uniformed officers.”

“There is no reason to be alarmed by this. We are the safest global city in the world. You saw last night as a consequence of our planning, our preparation, the rehearsals that take place, the swift response from the emergency services tackling the terrorists and also helping the injured.”

This is by no means the first time Trump Jnr, who claimed his father’s comments about “grabbing” women by the “pussy” are typical among some men and are “a fact of life” last year, has launched an attack on Mr Khan.

After the Westminster attack in March of this year, Trump Jnr shared a six-month-old story by The Independent on Twitter which quoted the Mayor of London saying terror attacks were “part and parcel” of living in a global city.

Trump Jnr, an executive of the Trump Organisation, said: “You have to be kidding me?!”

It was not clear whether Trump Jnr had even read the actual article before misconstruing the London Mayor’s comments. It also was unclear whether he was aware the six-month-old piece did not bear any relation to the attack outside the Houses of Parliament and instead focused on Mr Khan’s reaction to a wholly unrelated bombing in the Chelsea neighbourhood of New York.