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In a recent MSNBC interview, Donald trump said this:

"Paris is no longer the same city it was. They have sections in Paris that are radicalized and the police refuse to go there. They're petrified. ... We have places in London and other places that are so radicalized that the police are afraid for their own lives"

This question is similar to Are there officially pronounced "no-go" Islamic zones in France?, however different in that Trump never claims these sections are official. He also claims that "police refuse to go there", not that they're officially refused entry. He claims these places exist in "Paris, London, and other places".

If this is true then certainly there'd be statements or statistics by police mentioning these areas. Is this true?

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    Has somebody challenged Trump to name one of these places? That shouldn't be difficult for him if he actually has verified it.
    – DJClayworth
    Dec 8, 2015 at 21:55
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    I see this as a simple corruption of the original claim, as you might find with any retelling of an urban legend. I see this as a duplicate, despite the minor differences. Can we close it?
    – Oddthinking ♦
    Dec 8, 2015 at 23:24
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    Reminder to commenters: Your political views and tribal alliances are of no interest on this forum.
    – Oddthinking ♦
    Dec 9, 2015 at 8:00
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    I don't think this is a duplicate. This asks about the whole of Europe, but the linked question is about France in particular.
    – PointlessSpike
    Dec 11, 2015 at 9:38
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    I don't think this is a duplicate. I think this question significantly differs from the linked one in that, as stated by OP, the no-go zone status of the areas this is about isn't official. The top answer at the linked question is clearly "these particular officially recognized areas (ZUS) are not no-go zones", but doesn't answer this question, which is "are there areas (other than ZUS) that are (unofficially but in practice) no-go zones ?". @Oddthinking
    – Nikana Reklawyks
    Jun 21, 2018 at 19:00

1 Answer 1

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I can't speak for Paris, but in the case of London this is patently false.

Several British officials have stated categorically that Donald Trump is wrong.

"We would not normally dignify such comments with a response, however on this occasion we think it’s important to state to Londoners that Mr. Trump could not be more wrong," a spokeswoman for the police said in a statement. She offered Trump a tutorial: "Any candidate for the presidential election in the United States of America is welcome to receive a briefing from the Met Police on the reality of policing London."

London's mayor, the conservative politician Boris Johnson, also chimed in. "As a city where more than 300 languages are spoken, London has a proud history of tolerance and diversity and to suggest there are areas where police officers cannot go because of radicalization is simply ridiculous," he said.

Prime Minister David Cameron also refuted Trump.

"The Prime Minister completely disagrees with the comments made by Donald Trump, which are divisive, unhelpful and quite simply wrong," his official spokeswoman said.

NOTE: While it may be argued that these comments provide no concrete evidence against Trump's claims, since Trump himself has offered no evidence in favour of them (such as even naming one of these supposed areas) a preponderance of dismissals by people better positioned than him to know the facts are all that is required to refute him.

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    +1 I can't think of anything closer to proving a negative than "There's no evidence that it exists and the best-placed experts who could observe it if it did exist strongly deny that it is there"
    – user56reinstatemonica8
    Dec 9, 2015 at 11:01
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    It would be cool if there were an independent source to cite, though I doubt it. The London police, mayor and PM might be construed as having a vested interest in maintaining the appearance of the rule of law even if it's lacking.
    – Patrick87
    Dec 9, 2015 at 13:37
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    And Donald Trump has a vested interest in maintaining that there is evidence to support his racist rhetoric, even if it's lacking.
    – DJClayworth
    Dec 9, 2015 at 15:18
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    London isn't all of Europe. Sweden has multiple officials claiming there's no-go zones. However what is usually meant by this term is that the community refuses completely to cooperate with police in any fashion - similar to how some black communities in the US absolutely refuse to cooperate with police, even for murders - not that the police are physically prevented from entering.
    – ThisHandleNotInUse
    Dec 9, 2015 at 20:04
  • @ThisHandleNotInUse There are places like that in London. But Trump doesn't claim that. He claims that "the police don't go there because they are in fear of their lives".
    – DJClayworth
    Dec 9, 2015 at 20:42

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