Large Protests, Baby Blimp Greet Trump in London
Donald Trump's visit to Britain was marked by a mass demonstration attended by crowds of protesters, as well as a rather striking orange blimp meant to be a caricature of the U.S. president. The protests served as a backdrop to the meeting between Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May, and after that, with Queen Elizabeth outside of London.
For the most part, the protests remained peaceful as the giant "Trump Baby" balloon hovered above Westminster Abbey on Friday, July 13. The largest of the crowds gathered in central London, comprised of groups calling themselves "families against Trump," "drag queens against Trump," and even "trumpeters against Trump," according to the Washington Post.
Authorities in London, in the case of organized demonstrations, would usually leave the estimates of the crowd size to be announced by the organizers themselves. One such group called the Stop Trump coalition took to social media to announce that the protests in central London have swelled to around 250,000 members at one point.
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"We will make it clear to the British government that it's not OK to normalize Trump's agenda and the hate and fear it has sparked," the group also said through a statement posted on the group's website.
As for Trump, he made a quick note of how the ongoing protests, as well as the baby Trump blimp, made him feel that the city seemed to be less than hospitable compared to his past visits. "I guess when they put out blimps to make me feel unwelcome, no reason for me to go to London," Trump said, as quoted by ABC News.
"I used to love London as a city. I haven't been there in a long time. But when they make you feel unwelcome, why would I stay there?" he added. Other than the capital, he described the current relationship between the two countries as "the highest level of special."
