U.S. President Donald Trump took shots at a London hospital over the city’s knife crime.
He compared one of the English capital’s hospitals to a “war zone” when speaking at a pro-gun event.

At the National Rifle Association Event

Despite the many mass shootings in the United States since Donald Trump took office, many of which occurred in schools, the president chose to speak at a National Rifle Association event in Dallas on Friday.  He also felt the need to take aim at Great Britain, criticizing its strict gun laws.  Trump pointed to an increase in the number of stabbings in London as a form of condemnation of the firearm restrictions.
“I recently read a story that in London, which has unbelievably tough gun laws, a once very prestigious hospital, right in the middle, is like a war zone for horrible stabbing wounds. Yes, that’s right, they don’t have guns, they have knives and instead there’s blood all over the floors of this hospital. They say it’s as bad as a military war zone hospital,” said Trump.

“Knives, knives, knives.”

Trump followed up his statement by making a repeated stabbing motion in the air with his hand, saying “Knives, knives, knives.”
The reference has to do with the fact that London’s monthly murder rate surpassed New York’s for the first time ever, last February.  That said, the CNN report did point out that if you include January’s figures as well, New York has still had more murders than London this year.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has spoken out against the knife attacks in the city.  He referred to them as a “scourge on our communities.” However, he also pointed out that this issue is not one affecting London alone.  “Knife crime over the last year rose at a similar rate in London (23%) as it did across the whole of England and Wales (21%),” wrote Khan in an April Facebook post.  He added that “This is a national problem that requires national solutions – which must mean Government action.”

Adding Fuel to the Fire

Trump’s N.R.A. speech has managed to add greater tension between himself and Great Britain immediately ahead of his first presidential visit to the country in July.  Activists have already started organizing major demonstrations in protest of Trump’s visit.
This is not the first time the president has targeted London’s Mayor Khan.  He has also previously made statements against Islam as a whole and feuded with the mayor on the subject of the terror attacks that occurred in London.
The president has yet to clarify his statement about the hospital to which he was referring. He did not provide any more specifics other than the city in which he claims it is located.