Donald Trump to be met by flying Trump Baby with tiny hands on his visit to London
Donald Trump is due to meet Theresa May in London on July 13 (Justin Sullivan/Getty and Trump Baby/crowdfunder)
President Donald Trump will be greeted by a huge flying baby version of himself when he visits the UK next week.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has given permission for the balloon – a “six-metre-high, orange, inflatable baby with a malevolent face and tiny hands,” according to organisers – to fly over London while Trump meets Prime Minister Theresa May at 10 Downing Street on July 13.
Khan has repeatedly spoken out against Trump, criticising his “ignorant” Muslim ban, his lack of respect for LGBT people and for “playing into the hands of Daesh” with his hateful comments.
The blimp is intended to make fun of the US President (Trump Baby/crowdfunder)
The US President also sparked a backlash from author JK Rowling, among others, when he lashed out at Khan immediately after a London terror attack last year which killed seven people and left 48 injured.
Now, an angry, nappy-wearing Trump – complete with his mobile, of course – will, for two hours, soar over the real thing when he comes to Khan’s city.
Leo Murray, who came up with the idea for Trump Baby and attracted £22,000 in crowdfunding – as well as 10,000 signatures on a petition asking for permission to fly the blimp over London – told BBC News that Trump “really seems to hate it when people make fun of him.
Trump has repeatedly targeted LGBT people with his legislative decisions (Justin Sullivan/Getty)
“So when he visits the UK on Friday, we want to make sure he knows that all of Britain is looking down on him and laughing at him,” Murray explained.
“That’s why a group of us have chipped in and raised enough money to have a six-metre high blimp made by a professional inflatables company, to be flown in the skies over Parliament Square during Trump’s visit.”
He reported that he and his fellow organisers “didn’t get off to the best start with the mayor’s office over this, who originally told us that they didn’t recognise Trump Baby as legitimate protest.”
An artist’s impression of the protest (Trump Baby/crowdfunder)
But, Murray added, Khan’s administration had eventually “rediscovered its sense of humour – Trump Baby will fly”.
A statement sent on behalf of the Mayor of London said that he “supports the right to peaceful protest and understands that this can take many different forms.”
The people behind Trump Baby will be able to “use Parliament Square Garden as a grounding point for the blimp,” the spokesperson added.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has repeatedly spoken out against Trump (Jack Taylor/Getty)
In response to the news, former UKIP leader Nigel Farage tweeted that the balloon protest would be “the biggest insult to a sitting US President ever,” apparently forgetting the four Presidents who have been assassinated and the racist birther campaign against President Barack Obama which Trump fuelled.
The amount raised by the Trump Baby crowdfunder means that the balloon will be following the President around the globe, organisers have said.
They wrote that “people have been SO generous and supportive that we now have WAY more money than we can sensibly spend just on Trump’s UK visit in July! So – Trump Baby is going on World Tour!
The Trump Baby’s going on a world tour (Trump Baby/crowdfunder)
“All the details are still TBC but once little Donald has been run out of Britain in July, we will start to put together an itinerary – so if your community is unlucky enough to be expecting a visit from the orange sex pest, please get in touch after the 14th.
“We now plan to keep this crowdfunder rolling so that we can cover the shipping and helium costs to get #TrumpBaby to follow little Donald around the world, haunting his diplomatic engagements wherever he goes!”
They added that Trump Baby “can become a permanent feature of this dreadful Presidency, a constant, unmissable reminder of the contempt with which this embarrassment of a man is held by everyone outside of his deranged, bigoted base.
“If we can troll Donald from the skies wherever he goes for long enough, he’ll start seeing #TrumpBaby in his dreams! Every penny and cent we receive from here on in will go towards making this vision a reality.”
Thousands are expected to protest Trump’s visit (Mandel NGAN /AFP/Getty)
More than 7,000 people have said they are interested in attending a mass drag protest during Trump’s first official trip to the UK.
Writing on Facebook, Manchester-based drag artists Cheddar Gorgeous, Violet Blonde, Jonny Banks, Liquorice Black and Anna Phylactic called for “all drag kings, queens, queers and our allies to march against President Donald Trump’s UK visit.”
