The team behind a huge Donald Trump baby blimp is ‘confident’ of being granted permission to fly the effigy again during the US president’s upcoming state visit, which will require 10,000 police officers deployed on Britain’s streets.
The phone-wielding, nappy-wearing inflatable could return to London on Tuesday – alongside a new effigy of Trump sitting on a gold toilet – as thousands plan to march in protest against the visit.
Mr Trump will spend three days in the UK on a trip that includes lunch with the Queen at Buckingham Palace and meetings with Prime Minister Theresa May.
A huge police and security operation will be in place, with the Metropolitan Police saying it had ‘a very experienced command team’ leading the operation as the force geared up to deal with the visit itself and expected protests.
Last year, almost 10,000 officers were deployed for Mr Trump’s trip to the UK, with nearly every force in the country providing staff to support the operation.
During the state visit, which begins on June 3, protesters are again hoping to fly the Donald Trump blimp, which depicts the American leader as a baby.
A 16ft talking robot of Mr Trump sitting on a gold toilet is also expected to make an appearance.
The 6m tall baby blimp of Donald Trump was flown as a protest against his visit last year
Today workers in cherry pickers installed Union Jack flags along the length of the Mall in preparation for the visit.
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are escorted by Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako prior to their meeting at the Japanese Imperial Palace this week
Today workers in cherry pickers installed Union Jack flags along the length of the Mall in preparation for the visit.
The blimp made its first appearance in July last year during his previous working visit, which also sparked mass protests.
Organisers have applied for permission to fly the blimp at Parliament Square on Tuesday and the Greater London Authority has confirmed it is reviewing the request.
It is understood the decision will be made jointly with the Metropolitan Police.
But the blimp, part of the Stop Trump coalition group, will only be unleashed if a fundraising page for charities ‘pushing back against the politics of hate and division’ hits £30,000.
At lunch time on Thursday, 532 people had donated a total of £16,695.
Organiser Kevin Smith said: ‘We will only fly the baby if we hit the target.
‘I don’t think it’s a done deal but we will definitely be pushing it over the coming days.’
Mr Trump’s schedule for Tuesday includes a business breakfast at St James’s Palace with Mrs May and senior business leaders from the US and UK.
He will then visit Downing Street, before hosting a dinner at the residence of the US ambassador when he will be joined by the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.
A giant robot of Donald Trump sitting on a gold toilet is on its way to the UK after being shipped from China for protests against the US president’s state visit
President Donald Trump will be greeted by two 41-gun salutes when he arrives to meet the Queen on Monday for the first day of his state visit to Britain (pictured, the two heads of state at Windsor Castle last year)
Throughout Mr Trump’s visit he will be accompanied by a motorcade and the official helicopter, Marine One, the U.S. embassy said (pictured, the President boards the helicopter in Washington last year)
Mr Smith added: ‘We’re in the process of applying for permission at the moment and that’s a mixture of talking to the police and the Greater London Authority, and we’re applying for essentially the same permit as what we had last time.’
The blimp is currently stored in a ‘suitcase in Kentish Town’ and organisers are ‘presuming’ permission will be given, Mr Smith said.
A spokesman for the Greater London Authority said a decision will be made in ‘due course’.
Meanwhile, Facebook event pages promoting separate protest marches have drawn interest from tens of thousands of people.
The listing for one event, co-ordinated by 16 groups and individuals including Momentum and the Stop the War Coalition, said: ‘Donald Trump is coming to Britain for a state visit. Let’s show him what we think of his divisive, hateful policies.’
The event, which has 7,400 people listed as attending and a further 33,000 as interested, says the march will begin in Trafalgar Square at 11am on Tuesday to ‘declare a Trump-free zone’ before ‘marching to wherever he is’.
The event description says: ‘We will be taking to the streets opposing Trump’s racism, themed areas will feature throughout the protest with climate justice, migrants’ rights, anti-racism, women’s rights, LGBT rights, anti-war and trade union rights, and many more.’
Regional demonstrations across the UK are also planned, including in Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Belfast.
Mr Trump’s visit last year drew tens of thousands of demonstrators to the streets and roughly 10,000 police officers were deployed.
This year’s protest props will also include a 16ft talking robot of Mr Trump sitting on a gold toilet.
Amnesty International, the human rights organisation, has said it will unfurl five giant banners at Vauxhall Bridge, facing the US embassy, on Monday morning.
The 20-metre-long banners will spread a ‘resist message’ and will say ‘Resist sexism’, ‘Resist racism’, ‘Resist hate’, ‘Resist cruelty’ and ‘Resist Trump’, the group said.
In July 2018 the ‘Baby Trump# balloon hovered over Parliament Square and the Stop Trump Coalition is planning to stage a similar aerial demonstration when he arrives in June
Kate Allen, Amnesty International UK section’s director, said: ‘Trump has presided over two-and-a-half years of utterly shameful policies.
‘Locking up child migrants, imposing a discriminatory travel ban, decimating global funding for women’s rights and withdrawing from global human rights bodies – it’s been a roll call of shame under Donald Trump’s presidency.
‘We need to resist Trump’s trashing of human rights.
‘Within the Anglo-American relationship, we’d like to see the UK Government being far more vocal about human rights.
‘Our fear is that the Government’s desperate hunger for post-Brexit trade deals with the USA could mean we end up giving a free pass to the White House as this onslaught against human rights continues.’
It depicts the American leader with his trousers round his ankles while tweeting and says some of his well-known phrases such as ‘stable genius’ and ‘no collusion’, as well as breaking wind.
The Met said officers have met organisers of the Together Against Trump protest, who plan to gather in Trafalgar Square on June 4.
The force is in discussions to agree a route with the demonstrators, who wish to pass down Whitehall.
A section of the road will be closed off as part of the security operation around the president’s visit.
At the Tower of London, which gets 62 guns in a royal anniversary salute, the Honourable Artillery Company (file photo, firing at the Tower in 2018) will perform the ceremony with L118 Ceremonial Light Guns similar to those used in Afghanistan
Trump, pictured in Washington this week, declared he could meet his ‘friends’ Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage during his state visit to the UK next week
A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: ‘A very experienced command team is preparing the multi-faceted policing and security operation for the president’s visit and whilst the Met has a responsibility to ensure the right to lawful protest this needs to be balanced with the complex requirements of this policing plan.’
Security has also been tightened for the UK’s national commemorations of the 75th D-Day anniversary, which will be attended by international figures including the Queen and Mr Trump.
Members of the public will be prevented from watching the event, with a double-layered solid fence to be erected around Southsea Common in Portsmouth, Hampshire.
The Met has already staged a major policing operation around protests this year, with more than 10,000 officers deployed to deal with the Extinction Rebellion demonstrations that dominated parts of central London.
Police forces in the UK have experienced a drop of nearly 20,000 officers since 2010 and concerns over resources have come into sharp focus amid a recent surge in violent crime.
When Mr Trump’s state visit was announced earlier this year, Simon Kempton from the Police Federation warned officers were already ‘run ragged’ with extra work.
The 2018 Trump visit racked up an estimated bill of £18 million.