Baby Trump and the Trump robot headline London protests against U.S. president’s visit - The Washington Post

LONDON — A giant blimp of a diaper-clad “baby Trump” and a talking “Trump robot” sitting on a toilet were among the most vivid props on Tuesday as protesters descended on central London to register their disapproval of President Trump, who was in London for a three-day state visit.

After a day of pomp and pageantry with the British royals, Tuesday was shaping up to be a day of politics and protests. Trump is scheduled to have meetings at Downing Street, and protesters are hoping that they can be close enough — and loud enough — to be heard.

The road outside 10 Downing Street was sealed off with steel barricades, and there was a heavy police presence.

But in nearby Trafalgar Square, one of the main gathering places in central London, the so-called “Carnival of Resistance” was in full swing.

One of the main features was a talking Trump robot who sat on a toilet, saying: “You’re fake news! I’m a very stable genius!”

The great British tradition of creating witty — and sometimes rude — placards was on full display. One protester held aloft a sign that read: “British Humour: the gift of a book to an illiterate man — well played Your Majesty.”

Another man was pushing a shopping cart filled with toilet paper featuring Trump’s face on it. “Come on down to Trafalgar and get your Donald Trump toilet paper,” he said.

The protests come a day after a lavish state banquet hosted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.

Bryony Doyle, 23, an illustrator and a nanny protesting in Trafalgar Square, said she was “very pleased” that Trump did not “get the red-carpet treatment when he arrived. I know he went for dinner at Buckingham Palace, but he didn’t stay there,” she said.

[The long and bitter feud between Trump and London Mayor Sadiq Khan]

The Trumps are staying at Winfield House, the residence of the U.S. ambassador in London, but not Buckingham Palace, which would normally be the case. The palace is reportedly undergoing renovations.

“I think with us and our culture there’s only so much we can do without feeling impolite,” Doyle said. “I don’t think the queen could actually say no. I think there’s a limit to what the royals can do without causing too much controversy. But that’s not the case with the public, which is why we are here all day!”

Some wondered if the protests would have any impact.

Mark Davis, 64, a lawyer from California on vacation, said: “Trump could come here and do virtually anything and there are people back in the States who will support him. They’d think he’s being picked on, or this and that. I don’t think this changes anything. In the States, you’re either for him or against him.”

His wife, Monica Richards, 65, who retired from superior court in California, said they were nonetheless excited to be among a throng of “like people who have a great hate for Trump. It’s an opportunity to show our support for the forces who are against him.” She then unrolled her pink homemade sign that read: “Impeach now.”

Trump tweeted on Monday that he had not “seen any protests yet, but I’m sure the Fake News will be working hard to find them.”

The big protest day was always scheduled for Tuesday. Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party, refused to go to the state banquet for Trump but pledged to address the protesters “in solidarity with those he’s attacked in America, around the world and in our own country.”

[As Trump’s state visit looms, Britain seems a reluctant host]

The world’s most famous helium-filled balloon — the 20-foot-tall blimp depicting a diaper-clad baby Trump holding a cellphone — also took to the skies. Trump referenced the balloon last year when it flew during his working visit to Britain.

Kevin Smith, one of the organizers of the balloon protest who call themselves “Trump baby babysitters,” said it was a “very effective way to prick the pomposity and ego of Donald Trump.”

Asked if it wasn’t a rather juvenile form of protest, he said it was “part of a long tradition in Britain of political caricature. It’s not unlike cartoons in a newspaper — it just so happens to be 3-D and floats in the air.”

The organizers of the balloon crowdfunded more than 36,00 pounds ($46,000), which they are giving to groups they describe as “pushing back against the politics of hate and division that are represented by Trump.”

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