Protesters Hit London Streets, With a Giant Trump Balloon in Tow

LONDON — Protesters against President Trump’s state visit to Britain have vowed to bring central London to a standstill on Tuesday, by staging demonstrations that are expected to draw large crowds throughout the day.

Some of the demonstrators plan to fly a giant orange balloon of Mr. Trump, depicted as a scowling baby wearing a diaper and holding a smartphone, near places on the president’s itinerary in areas near the president throughout the day. The 20-foot-tall balloon was flown during his working visit to Britain in July last year, and became a rallying symbol of similar protests.

“Trump has repeatedly shown that he doesn’t respond to reason, to facts or to science. What he does respond to is humiliation,” Anna Vickerstaff, one of the organizers of the Trump blimp wrote in an op-ed in The Independent on Monday.

“Our balloon is part of a proud history of political satire in the U.K. that sends a clear, orange, message to Trump and his politics of hate that they are not welcome here.”