Photos show hundreds of people protesting Trump's visit in the UK, which the president called 'fake news'
Protests in London began Monday morning before Trump touched down at a nearby airport and took the Marine One helicopter to meet royalty at Buckingham Palace.
A protest planned for Tuesday called Together Against Trump began in the city's iconic Trafalgar Square before marching past Downing Street and stopping outside of Parliament.
The march was supported by at least 15 organizations and had almost 35,000 people express interest in the event on Facebook.
Source: CBS News
Protesters were reportedly provided buses to bring them from at least 15 cities around England to attend the protest.
Source: The New York Times,
The cornerstone of the protests in Trafalgar Square was a 16-foot robot, which depicts Trump on a golden toilet using a smartphone to tweet and repeating some of his choice phrases.
As it moves, the robot says phrases from the president, including: "I'm a very stable genius," "no collusion," and "you are fake news."
"I wanted people here to know that people in America do not support Trump," the robot's creator, Don Lessem, told CNN.
One group made their intentions very clear along the march route amid signs pushing for action to address sexism and the state of Palestine.
Stephanie Onamade, a student protest leader with the "Stand up to Racism" group, told CBS News that the demonstration might be less fiery than last year's because Britons felt "disappointed that he's even been invited for a state visit."
"What's the point if our government has already decided that they consider him welcome?" Onamade told the outlet. "It's not something that is voted on, who we give state visits to, even though it is allocation of our money."
She added last year's protests were more negative, this year's was "more celebratory of the values that we have."
A climate action group employed Earth masks to protest Trump's environmental policies.
Some signs just took aim at his physical appearance.
Much of the protest was more comical than fiery, as a Trump look-alike marched along with the crowd.
The "Trump Baby" blimp was a notorious fixture in the crowd, making its second debut since it caused a stir during Trump's visit last year.
Source: CBS News
During his 2018 visit, Trump said the balloon was clearly made to make him feel "unwelcome," and made him less inclined to visit London.
"I guess when they put out blimps to make me feel unwelcome, no reason for me to go to London," he told The Sun newspaper in an interview at the time.
The balloon was in good company with another towering political figure in Parliament Square as it appeared by former Prime Minister Winston Churchill's statue.
Several other objects were made to follow in the spirit of the "Baby Trump" blimp, including a caged sculpture ...
... and a Trump figure being pushed in a stroller alongside a sign reading, "Keep his tiny hands off our NHS," which was a phrase seen widely around the march.
The phrase combines references to Trump's previously reported sensitivity about the size of his hands and the president's comments that the US could demand access to the National Health Service in a post-Brexit trade deal.
Smaller, but similar, balloons also hung in the air above the crowd alongside signs demanding the ouster of Tory politicians (British lawmakers in the conservative party).
Though the vast majority of people on the streets were to protest Trump's visit, smaller groups of Trump supporters showed out to welcome the president.
Trump supporters have shown out in small but visible numbers throughout Trump's visit, including alongside Monday's crowd outside Buckingham Palace.
Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn stood onstage in front of the crowd to push back on Trump's visit and recent comments.
Trump's visit has brought on the latest chapter of the two leaders' openly hostile relationship, which previously culminated in Trump refusing to meet with Corbyn.
Corbyn told the crowd Tuesday that he had refused to attend Monday evening's State Banquet held for Trump, but wished for constructive talks between the two countries.
"In welcoming visitors to the United States, I hope there can be a conversation," Corbyn said. "I am not, absolutely not, refusing to meet anybody. I want to be able to have that dialogue to bring about the better and more peaceful world that we all want to live in."
The Labour leader added that he was "very disappointed" the president had responded to criticism about his visit from London mayor Sadiq Khan by calling him a "stone cold loser" the day before.
Speaking in a press conference alongside Prime Minister Theresa May, Trump dismissed the protests as "fake news."
"I didn't see the protesters until just a little while ago and it was a very, very small group of people put in for political reasons, so it was fake news," Trump said.
Trump has one day left on his trip, in which he's expected to make several more stops at iconic British landmarks, and could draw more protests.
Source: The Daily Express
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