Donald Trump is no fan of London's Muslim mayor, Sadiq Khan. In June 2017, Trump purposely distorted Khan's written statement about the attacks at the Borough Market and London Bridge to falsely depict Khan as soft on Islamic terrorism.
Trump tweeted Khan said "there's no reason to be alarmed" at the attacks, when what the mayor actually said was, "Londoners will see an increased police presence today and over the course of the next few days. There's no reason to be alarmed."
This brouhaha set the stage for today's soured relationship between Khan and Trump. And now, Londoners, with Khan's assent, are giving vent to their extreme distaste for the U.S. president by insulting him in a high-flying send-up.
Trump will visit London, a city that despises him, as part of a three-day visit to the UK this week. He will spend very few hours in London itself to avoid the spite and anger that will be hurled his way through street protests. He will also want to avoid witnessing for himself the most humiliating of all sights -- the insulting "Trump Baby Blimp" -- hovering over the city.
No U.S. president has been publicly embarrassed this way in British history. The Trump Baby Blimp is a caricature of what Londoners, and many of the British, think of the ill-mannered U.S. president.
The six meter-tall blimp depicts Trump as an orange-faced cry baby clad in a diaper, with his small right hand clutching a smartphone. Trump's visage is that of an angry child venting a temper tantrum, while the diaper holding-up his huge pot belly is held in place by a single safety pin.
The Trump Baby Blimp will soar over the British Parliament Square on July 13, the day Trump visits the capital. Khan approved the flight of the blimp after a crowdsourcing campaign amassed over $20,000 and 10,000 signatures in favor of the stunt. The blimp was the brainchild of an anti-fascist "art activists" group.
Trump, the blimp, will fly above Parliament Square Gardens at a maximum of 30 meters above the ground between 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. to coincide with a "Stop Trump" street protest march to be held at the city center.
"The Mayor supports the right to peaceful protest and understands that this can take many different forms," said a spokesperson for Mayor Khan.
Last year, over 1.8 million persons signed an online petition seeking to cancel or downgrade Trump's state visit to the U.K. a request which was ultimately rejected by the British government.
