The president has said that Britons “like me a lot”. Those who do not were out in force

IN THE end they came out in their thousands. When news broke in April that Donald Trump was finally coming to Britain, campaigners scrambled to organise what they billed as “a carnival of resistance” to greet America’s volatile president. And on July 13th, the day after Mr Trump landed, Britain teemed with demonstrations as protesters took to streets and squares, from Exeter to Aberdeen. In smaller British towns, too, people marched, wafted placards and shouted “Trump go home”. Barnstaple, which has a population of 21,000, planned a protest. Leamington Spa had two.

The evening before, a group kept vigil outside the newly erected fence ringing the American ambassador’s residence in Regent’s Park, in London, where Mr Trump was staying. They bashed kitchen colanders and rang bells while promising to keep the president up all night. Ahead of the visit, a farmer let an artist carve out a 200-metre crop circle in his field spelling out an insult in a mixture of Russian and English, in the hope Mr Trump would see it from his helicopter as he flew to meet Theresa May at Chequers, the prime minister’s country residence.

A previous visit by Mr Trump, planned for February, was cancelled amid a very public spat with London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, who at the time warned there would be “mass peaceful protests” if the American president came. Mr Khan proved to be correct. The main event in London, a procession from the BBC’s headquarters in Portland Place to Trafalgar Square, attracted tens of thousands. People from around the country descended on the capital, where clerics found themselves marching alongside drag queens. The authorities had to draft in hundreds of extra officers from forces outside London in the biggest police mobilisation since riots across Britain in 2011.

Demonstrators gave various reasons for opposing Mr Trump’s sojourn. The American president’s attitude towards women, his alleged racism and his administration’s treatment of migrants were lambasted. Placards urged him to keep his “tiny hands” off various British institutions, from the Queen to the National Health Service. “There are so many issues,” said one breathless protester.

Mr Trump said before he arrived that he felt “fine” about the expected protests and claimed that Britons “like me a lot”. An ICM/Guardian poll taken earlier this week suggests most Britons are not that keen. Two-thirds of respondents said they would not like to have a politician like Mr Trump as prime minister; a similar number said they think he makes the world a more dangerous place.

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour Party’s left-wing leader, was quick to thump the tub. He criticised Mrs May for inviting the American president “at a time when his dangerous and inhumane policies are putting the lives and well-being of millions of people at risk”. Rather than rolling out the “red carpet” for Mr Trump, says Mr Corbyn, the government should find a way to put up with him “whilst also standing up for our values and our beliefs”.

Members of the Conservative Party, on the other hand, have been chirpier about the trip. Even after Mr Trump criticised Mrs May’s handling of Brexit and trashed her plan to negotiate a soft Brexit in an explosive interview with the Sun, a tabloid newspaper, Sir Alan Duncan, a foreign-office minister, insisted that the visit was important to the special relationship and had been a success so far.

To keep Mr Trump away from protesters, as little of the trip as possible is taking place in London. Having been shuttled by helicopter to London from Blenheim Palace after supper last night, his other stops have included tea with the Queen at Windsor Castle. He will visit Scotland over the weekend and spend time at a golf course he owns. Even there, there may be no escape from the placards. Demonstration organisers in Scotland plan to turn up “wherever Trump appears”.

See also

Donald Trump lays into Britain’s Brexit plan (July 13th 2018)