13 July 2018•Update: 14 July 2018
By Muhammad Mussa
LONDON
U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in the UK on Thursday for a four-day visit that will see him meet the prime minister and Queen.
Air Force One landed at Stansted Airport in Essex, where Trump -- fresh from a two-day visit to Brussels for a NATO summit -- was greeted by International Trade Secretary Liam Fox.
Trump then travelled by helicopter to the U.S. ambassador’s residence in London.
Mass protests are planned for the duration of Trump’s visit to reflect his extreme unpopularity in the UK and especially London, where activists will fly an inflatable ‘Trump Baby’ balloon.
Trump will largely avoid travelling around the capital and other major cities due to the anticipated protests and his meetings will take place at various country estates or palaces.
The U.S. embassy in London has warned its citizens from travelling around the capital due to fears over the planned protests.
Huge crowds grew outside the U.S. embassy as Trump arrived in the capital and protesters marched on the nearby Vauxhall Bridge, where members of Amnesty International unfurled a banner branding Trump a “Human Rights Nightmare”.
Trump has come under heavy criticism from the UK after describing it as a “country in turmoil” following a series of high-level resignations from Prime Minister Theresa May’s cabinet last week over her Brexit plan.
A Guardian/ICM poll published yesterday showed that an overwhelming number of Britons have a negative view of Trump, with 53 percent of respondents saying he wasn’t doing a good job and 63% saying they would not like to see a politician like him become prime minister.
Trump is due to remain in the UK until Sunday, when he will travel to the Finnish capital of Helsinki for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
