During an official visit to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

by former

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

, an inflatable caricature of Trump (usually known as the Trump Baby or less commonly the Baby Trump) was flown in protest of him, his visit, his history of alleged sexual misconduct, and his

policies Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an organ ...

. The balloon depicts Trump as an angry orange baby holding a

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

. The balloon was flown over Parliament Square,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, on 13 July 2018, where the

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

estimate that over 100,000 protestors were in attendance, and 50,000 more in the Meadows,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, the following day, where protests were also held. Although Trump was not visiting Edinburgh, he was spending the weekend at his Turnberry golf course, but permission to fly the balloon there was refused by

Police Scotland Police Scotland ( gd, Poileas Alba), officially the Police Service of Scotland (), is the national police force of Scotland. It was formed in 2013, through the merging of eight regional police forces in Scotland, as well as the specialist service ...

. The balloon has also been flown in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. With permission, activists made a copy of the balloon and it has been flown in numerous locations in the U.S.

Concept

One of the organizers, Max Wakefield, described the balloon protest as being in response to "the rise of

far-right politics Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

that dehumanises people in order to get into power", and saw it as an attempt to introduce some "good British humour" into the political discourse surrounding Trump's visit. Wakefield cited the Trump administration's family separation policy and Trump's withdrawal of the United States from the Paris climate agreement as examples of the kind of policies which the protest was targeting. Leo Murray, who led the campaign, wrote in its crowdfunding statement: The tall,

helium Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...

-filled plastic

inflatable An inflatable is an object that can be inflated with a gas, usually with air, but hydrogen, helium and nitrogen are also used. One of several advantages of an inflatable is that it can be stored in a small space when not inflated, since inflata ...

, also referred to as a "

balloon A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or light so ...

" or " blimp", was designed by Matt Bonner and constructed by Imagine Inflatables of

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

. It was made after a

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

campaign on Crowdfunder raised the £16,000 cost of its creation and deployment. It depicts Trump as "an angry orange baby" with a snarling mouth, tiny hands, wearing a

diaper A diaper /ˈdaɪpə(r)/ (American and Canadian English) or a nappy ( Australian English, British English, and Hiberno-English) is a type of underwear that allows the wearer to urinate or defecate Defecation (or defaecation) follows dig ...

, and holding a

. Wakefield said "The only way that you can make any impact with Donald Trump is to mock him, because you can't engage him in any kind of argument — it never gets anywhere."

History

Permission from the

Greater London Authority The Greater London Authority (GLA), colloquially known by the metonym "City Hall", is the devolved regional governance body of Greater London. It consists of two political branches: the executive Mayoralty (currently led by Sadiq Khan) and the ...

(GLA),

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

and National Air Traffic Service (NATS) was required for the balloon to be flown over Parliament Square, the space above which is considered restricted airspace. Permission was granted, allowing it to be flown, while tethered, up to high, for up to two hours. Both the GLA's 'City Operations' team and NATS stressed that the nature of the protest did not play a part on their decisions. After learning of the balloon, Trump remarked, "I guess when they put out blimps to make me feel unwelcome, no reason for me to go to London." After its appearance in London, the balloon was taken to Edinburgh, where it was flown over the Meadows, a public park near to the city center, as part of the protests against Trump's two-day-visit to Scotland, permission to fly the balloon near Turnberry golf course having been refused. On 17 July 2018, the balloon was tethered outside

the O2 Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as the O2 (stylised as The O2 arena), is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of the O2 entertainment complex on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the s ...

in London during a performance by the American rock band

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...

, with their blessing. Protesters planned to fly the Trump baby balloon in Ireland in November during Trump's visit to the country, however his trip was cancelled. Museums including the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

and the

Museum of London The Museum of London is a museum in London, covering the history of the UK's capital city from prehistoric to modern times. It was formed in 1976 by amalgamating collections previously held by the City Corporation at the Guildhall, London, Gui ...

expressed interest in acquiring or displaying the original balloon. In January 2021, the Museum of London announced that it had acquired the original balloon and intended to display it alongside other artefacts from the London protest.

2019 London appearance

Ahead of Trump's state visit to the UK in June 2019,

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the hea ...

ran a commercial featuring the balloon. The blimp was likely to be flown again during this visit, subject to permission from the Metropolitan Police. A

initiative arranged for the blimp to fly if £30,000 were raised before Trump's arrival on 3 June 2019; this funding goal was achieved. The Museum of London again said that it would like to exhibit the balloon. The blimp flew at 9:00 am 4 June 2019 in Parliament Square, ahead of the main protest that congregated at 11:00 am in Trafalgar Square. A smaller balloon was prepared to be carried in the march. The smaller balloon was "stabbed with a sharp object" by Amy Dalla Mura, a pro-Trump supporter later that day; the woman was arrested and charged.

Appearances outside the UK

United States

A group of activists in New Jersey raised nearly US$24,000 in a GoFundMe campaign to purchase Baby Trump balloons that they planned to fly over Trump National Golf Club in

Bedminster, New Jersey Bedminster is a township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the township's population was 8,165, reflecting a decline of 137 (−1.7%) from the 8,302 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in t ...

. Initially, they sought US$4,500 to purchase one balloon. Their fund raising was so successful that they were able to purchase six balloons in all. The balloons are available for "adoption" by groups for events in other states. Copies of the "Baby Trump", sometimes referred to as the "baby blimp", balloon have appeared across the U.S. in Florida, Michigan, California, Chicago, New York and Washington, among other places. On 22 September 2018, a balloon was seen flying near Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in West Palm Beach at a rally to mark the anniversary of Hurricane Maria striking Puerto Rico. On 2 October, the balloon appeared at a Spokane, Washington protest when Vice President Mike Pence traveled to Washington to support the reelection of Representative

Cathy McMorris Rodgers Cathy Anne McMorris Rodgers (born May 22, 1969) is an American politician who is the U.S. representative for , which encompasses the eastern third of the state and includes Spokane, the state's second-largest city. A Republican, McMorris Rodgers ...

. Baby Trump made an appearance at a 13 October 2018, Woman's March rally in Chicago, Illinois. The march was organized to encourage female political activism leading up to the November midterm elections. The balloon made its California debut at the Los Angeles Convention Center on 19 October 2018 during the

Politicon Politicon was an annual, non-partisan political convention in the United States. Politicon's vision was to bring "Republicans, Democrats, and people of all political stripes together to banter and spar over the most topical issues in smart and e ...

. On 27 October 2018, the Trump balloon was flown in West Hollywood, California and Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Grand Rapids co-organizer stated, "It's meant to be fun, but we're also making the point that this guy is dangerous and he's a little unhinged. We want to make the point that this administration is taking us down what we think is the wrong path and is threatening to democracy, to our moral standing in the world." On 28 October 2018, the Baby Trump balloon made an appearance in New York City at an "Impeachment parade." The blimp appeared on 19 January 2019 at Los Angeles Women's March, and at a protest rally outside Trump's re-election campaign launch in Orlando on 18 June 2019. The balloon made an appearance during 4 July 2019

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...

festivities at the Salute to America event on the National Mall. The

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

granted a permit for its use. The balloon was seen at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con on 20 July. It flew again on 21 September in Ventura, California. The balloon appeared in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

, outside of the city's courthouse on 4 November 2019 in protest of Trump's visit to the city. The balloon appeared in

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of 1 ...

for the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

College Football game between the #2 LSU Tigers and the #3

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I as a mem ...

on 9 November 2019 at

Bryant–Denny Stadium Bryant–Denny Stadium is an outdoor stadium in the southeastern United States, on the campus of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. It is the home field of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Opene ...

. President Trump attended the game while protesters flew the balloon at Tuscaloosa's Monnish Park. At that appearance the balloon was slashed by Hoyt Hutchinson. Hutchinson was taken into police custody. The balloon appeared in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

on 20 June 2020 to protest his rally there. It was the first time President Trump had hosted a rally since the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

began to spread in the United States.

France

The balloon appeared in Paris on 11 November 2018, at a march protesting about Trump's visit to attend the ceremonies of the 100th anniversary of the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Speaking to a

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

journalist, one protester said, "I think Paris should be protesting not only Trump's presence here, but also should be trying to send a message to President Macron for having invited him here, especially on the anniversary of the signing of the armistice."

Argentina

On 29 November 2018, the Trump Baby was flown in

in protest during the

G20 Buenos Aires summit ' The 2018 G20 Buenos Aires summit was the thirteenth meeting of Group of Twenty (G20), which was held on 30 November and 1 December 2018 in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was the first G20 summit to be hosted in South America. Prepara ...

Ireland

From London the blimp moved to Ireland, and appeared at 6:00 pm, on 6 June 2019, at the "Stop Trump Ireland" protest at the Garden of Remembrance, in Dublin. Permission was granted by Irish Aviation Authority.

Denmark

In preparation for Donald Trump's planned visit to Denmark in September 2019, a Danish campaign was launched to have the blimp transported to Denmark and flown during Trump's visit. Despite the visit being cancelled, the blimp still flew over Kongens Nytorv in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

on 2 September 2019.

Copycat balloons

Sadiq Khan

On 30 August 2018, pictures of a balloon similar to that of Donald Trump's were circulated, this time depicting London's Mayor Sadiq Khan wearing a bright yellow bikini. The balloon, like the Donald Trump baby balloon, was crowdfunded after £58,000 was raised to create the blimp. Organizers, identified as Yanny Bruere, a 28-year-old sales manager from

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

, known for

anti-semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

tweets, said "a certain amount of respect should be afforded to the leader of the free world and the greatest ally the UK has," and that the balloon was made "in retaliation" to the Trump balloon. It featured Khan wearing a yellow bikini in response to the banning of a series of Protein World advertisements on London's public transport networks, which had shown a woman in a yellow bikini with the slogan "are you beach body ready?". The adverts were criticized for allegedly objectifying women and promoting unrealistic female body images. The adverts were eventually banned, with Sadiq Khan supporting their removal. Khan commented, "If people want to spend their Saturday looking at me in a yellow bikini they're welcome to do so, I don't really think yellow's my colour though." A small crowd gathered to watch as the blimp flew over London's Parliament Square on 1 September 2018. It has made no further appearances. The Sadiq Khan bikini-clad balloon was sold on eBay in August 2019 for £16,000.

Boris Johnson

During Anti-

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

protests in London on 20 July 2019, a giant balloon depicting the former mayor of London

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

was flown over Parliament Square. The balloon depicted Johnson with a pink-face and blonde spiky hair whilst wearing a white T-shirt with a red bus across the front with the words '£350m', in reference to the bus he used during the Brexit referendum campaign. He was also depicted wearing blue shorts with love hearts printed on them with the word 'Nigel' also printed across the front, resembling the Pro-Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage. The "No to Boris, Yes to Europe" protest was against Johnson's view on Brexit and also against him becoming the next

prime minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...

References

External links

* (13 July 2018),

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...

* (13 July 2018), ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' {{Protests against Trump footer 2018 in Argentina 2018 in France 2018 in Scotland 2018 in British politics 2018 in American politics 2018 protests 2018 works Balloons (entertainment) Caricatures of presidents of the United States Crowdfunding projects Cultural depictions of Donald Trump Inflatable manufactured goods Parodies of Donald Trump Political art Protests against Donald Trump Protests in Argentina Protests in France Protests in London Protests in Scotland Protests in the United Kingdom Protests in the United States