July 5, 2018 – Campaign groups and trade unions have organised a schedule of protests to follow Donald Trump on his visit to the UK next week, including a giant angry baby balloon that will fly over Westminster from Parliament Square.
Demonstrations begin next Thursday evening at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, and in Regent’s Park, London, near to where the protesters believe the president will have dinner, and then at the US ambassador’s residence, where they believe he will stay the night.
The “Trump baby” balloon is due to fly on the Friday morning, after campaigners raised £16,000 to pay for it and the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, gave permission for it to fly. “The mayor supports the right to peaceful protest and understands that this can take many different forms,” a spokesman for Khan said.
Leo Murray, an environmental campaigner behind the balloon stunt, said the idea behind the protest was to play on Trump’s psychology. “He’s a deeply insecure man, and that is the only leverage we have over him. If we want his attention, we have to do something that humiliates him.”