After tackling NATO on Wednesday and Thursday morning, President Trump will finally head to the U.K. For the first time since taking office.
The visit
Immediately after arriving in London, Trump and his wife will attend a black-tie dinner in Oxfordshire hosted by Prime Minister Theresa May. The dinner will include 100 ministers and guests, including people from a variety of sectors.
They will then spend the night at the American ambassador’s residence in Regent’s Park, Winfield House.
On Friday, Trump will join May at a U.K. Military demonstration at a defense site, after which they will go to May’s country home Chequers for bilateral talks, according to the Evening Standard. Finally, Trump will meet the Queen at Windsor Castle, before traveling to his golf course in Scotland for the remainder of the weekend.
The reaction
While Trump is expected to have a busy schedule throughout his visit, there is at least one place that he will avoid: central London.
A mass demonstration is planned for Friday, which is expected to draw more than 50,000 people according to a Facebook event. The “Stop Trump” march will travel through central London on Friday afternoon, before ending with a rally in Trafalgar Square.
According to The Guardian, in anticipation of the potentially violent turnout of protestors, the country will be deploying police at level not seen since its 2011 riots, when a man was shot and killed by police in London. One officer reportedly told the outlet that the resources requested were “on the scale required if London was burning down.”
The U.S. Embassy has also responded in kind, issuing a warning to American citizens to “keep a low profile” and “exercise caution” during Trump’s visit.
Activists have also crowdfunded a giant inflatable “Trump Baby” balloon, which will fly above Parliament on Friday after receiving approval from London mayor Sadiq Khan. But that’s not all: another group has started a social media campaign to make Green Day’s song “American Idiot” the country’s number one song at the time of Trump’s visit. As of Wednesday morning, the group said that the song was at number three on the charts.
Additional, smaller protests are planned in other parts of the city and the country.
