If one even casually perused the various social media feeds of American and British news outlets, one would see this story being repeatedly mentioned:

A giant 'Trump Baby' balloon is set to be flown close to the UK Parliament during President Trump's visit to London next week, after the Mayor of London gave it the go-ahead https://t.co/7nvfbxSS6F pic.twitter.com/upAqSOubAH — CNN (@CNN) July 5, 2018

Hilarious, no?

No.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan could have denied permission for the balloon to fly but didn’t, which rather indicates that the wrong leader may be being mocked for being churlish and immature.

All is not protest and #resist mentality in England as they prepare for the leader of the free world to visit, however.

According to the Evening Standard, the Jameson pub in the Hammersmith area of London will be hosting a welcome party in honor of the president and will temporarily rename itself “The Trump Arms.” They’ve got a temporary sign for the renaming that “will be hoisted onto the roof in time for Trump’s arrival and will remain there until he leaves.”

The Jameson will be serving cheeseburgers — a Trump favorite — as well as “Trump-themed cocktails.” All of this in the hope of creating the feel of a Trump rally.

The pub’s landlord says that the two-day event is “a chance to show POTUS that he had a big fan club in London, despite threats of mass protests.”

Early on Thursday, I tweeted something derisive about the baby balloon story and got this reply from a gentleman in England:

Mate, most Brits support the Donald and welcome him, we dont get a mention by the #FakeNews we will be out to welcome him. Ignore the daft mayor and his fellow yoghurt knitters. — Patty (@PattyUKGB) July 5, 2018

I thanked him very much for letting me know that and he replied that the fake news over there is worse than it is here. That’s debatable but I think we can all agree that it’s a race to the bottom.

The Jameson landlord says that he doesn’t really expect President Trump to drop into the pub but “will have a pint of stout ready for him in case.”

Somebody should probably tell him that the president is a teetotaler.