US president to dodge London protests for tea with the Queen
It has been called Storm Trump and the country is braced for a US presidential visit that has split opinion like never before.
Dozens of protests are planned across the country as organisers seek to mount a “carnival of resistance”.
Hundreds of thousands are predicted to come on to the streets to demonstrate against a man they described as “dangerous and divisive”.
In the capital marchers will arrive outside the BBC building at 2pm tomorrow before heading to Trafalgar Square in a rally to stop “the clock being turned back to the darkest moments of human history”.
Meanwhile, Theresa May’s government is nervously anticipating disruption from the guest himself. Mr Trump has described the UK as a place in turmoil.
After the departure of senior cabinet figures Boris Johnson as foreign secretary and David Davis as Brexit minister, the political atmosphere is febrile.
While Mr Johnson may now be a backbencher, Mr Trump said he hoped he would still see him – dealing another blow to the fragile position of Mrs May.
The US ambassador to the UK, Robert “Woody” Johnson, said meeting Mr Johnson was “not on the schedule but the president makes his own schedule. We’ll make everything possible if the president wants to do something.”
“Boris Johnson’s a friend of mine, he’s been very nice to me, very supportive and maybe I’ll speak to him when I get over there. I like Boris Johnson, I’ve always liked him,” Mr Trump said.
Mr Trump arrives this afternoon, after the Nato Summit in Brussels, and will largely avoid the capital’s centre, and the protesters.
After a dinner for business leaders at Blenheim Palace, birthplace of Winston Churchill, he will spend the night in the ambassador’s residence in north London.
From there his meetings with Mrs May will be at the prime minister’s country home, Chequers, which offers a “more informal setting”, according to a Downing Street spokesman.
The Stop Trump Coalition accused the president of being “too scared to face protesters”.
Mr Trump is hardly likely to catch a glimpse of the six-metre orange inflatable blimp that depicts him as a screaming baby. He will instead be at Windsor Castle, west of London, tomorrow to meet Queen Elizabeth when the blimp will be tethered next to the Houses of Parliament.
The US ambassador insisted the balloon was not a fair representation of British views. “It’s really kind of irrelevant to what we’re trying to do and doesn’t express the opinion of the British people that I’ve met,” he told the BBC’s Today programme.
While thousands are expected to line the streets and protest against Mr Trump, politicians have become involved too.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan gave the go-ahead for the orange balloon and he clashed on ITV’s This Morning with host Piers Morgan.
Mr Khan defended the blimp baby: “There are two issues: one is the freedom to protest and the right to free speech and the second is our issues on President Trump. Are you honestly saying that the right to protest, the right to assemble, the right to free speech is limited by the ridicule it might cause to someone else?”
Morgan, the journalist and broadcaster, questioned why the London mayor had not been so vocal over the visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“You have endorsed this to be flying at parliament, so the images that will go around the world from Trump’s visit … will be him in a nappy as a baby,” Morgan said.
He went on to say Mr Trump’s visit was very important for the country and that as “we come through Brexit we are going to need a good trade deal with America, he has signalled that he is prepared to give us one”.
Mr Trump will spend the weekend in Scotland where he has two golf courses and plans to play at least once.
Demonstrators in Edinburgh have a particularly varied day to look forward to. Events will include Toss the Welly at Trump and a Trump coconut shy.
The Stop Trump Coalition accused the president of being too scared to face protesters