Donald Trump’s UK arrival is expected to be met by protest but some citizens see him as an ally

As the US president arrives in the UK, he will be met with a chorus of disapproval – but also a smaller number of cheerleaders whose enthusiasm for his leadership is matched only by their gift for self-promotion. With millions of Twitter followers between them, considerable television appearance money (for those who are not incarcerated), and in some cases the endorsement of the president himself, the British Trumpocracy is still thriving – and ready for another moment in the limelight.

Nigel Farage

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Nigel Farage arrives at Trump Tower in New York in December 2016. Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Nigel Farage, the former leader of Ukip, has long been a self-declared friend of Donald Trump. He was one of the first non-Americans to visit the president in Trump Tower after he was elected in 2016 and has spoken of his support repeatedly, to whomever will listen.

Farage, who has seen his political clout wane after Brexit has nonetheless become the British voice of reason for Fox News. Recent headlines have seen Farage tell Fox that Theresa May must resign, that the inflatable Trump baby set to welcome the president to the UK is a “disgrace”, and that Trump is right on Nato.

The British government is, in Farage’s measured assessment, “paranoid about my relationship with Trump”, with claims circulating that Downing Street officials have been ordered not to make space for the president to meet the ex-Ukip leader during the visit schedule.

Boris Johnson

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Boris Johnson and Ivanka Trump from his Instagram feed. The US president has said he would like to make contact with Johnson. Photograph: Twitter

One person that Donald Trump has indicated a desire to make contact with is Boris Johnson, with the US ambassador stating he will set up a meeting for Trump with Britain’s former foreign secretary – should the president wish to see him on his visit to the UK.

Johnson, who quit the cabinet over May’s Brexit proposals this week, used to be critical of Trump but last month told a meeting at the Institute of Directors in London that he was “increasingly admiring of Donald Trump. I have become more and more convinced that there is method in his madness.”

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He added: “Imagine Trump doing Brexit. He’d go in bloody hard … there’d be all sorts of breakdowns, all sorts of chaos. Everyone would think he’d gone mad. But actually, you might get somewhere. It’s a very, very good thought.”

Piers Morgan

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Donald Trump and Piers Morgan in November 2010 in New York. Photograph: Mathew Imaging/WireImage

Piers Morgan, one of Trump’s most voluble and long-time media supporters, got to know Trump when he won Celebrity Apprentice 10 years ago.

While Morgan has occasionally found grounds to criticise the president, this week he has been obsessed with one issue in particular: the Trump baby. The Good Morning Britain host laid into London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, for allowing a giant inflatable Trump wearing a nappy to fly over parliament.

“Let me ask you a question, if this president was Barack Obama and someone came to you with a crowdfunded plan because they didn’t agree with his drone strike policy, for example – a perfectly legitimate way to criticise Obama – and they wanted to fly a giant, 20ft, black baby of Obama, topless in a nappy, would you have endorsed that?” he asked the mayor.

Not content with giving large sections of airtime to the pressing issue of a 6-metre tall inflatable with small hands, a tiny mobile phone and a giant nappy, Morgan managed to produce an entirely Trump baby-themed column in the Daily Mail.

“My own opinion about the balloon is that it’s a pathetically puerile stunt that makes Britain look woefully petty, small-minded and gratuitously offensive,” he thundered. “Whether you love or loathe Trump, for Britain to be greeting the leader of the United States of America, its greatest ally, in this way is appallingly disrespectful.”

Tommy Robinson

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tommy Robinson, the former leader of the English Defence League. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Tommy Robinson, the former leader of the English Defence League, was jailed for 13 months for contempt of court in May – but he has become an unlikely hero for many Trump supporters. Before he was jailed, petitions were set up asking Trump to grant asylum to Robinson in the US.

After Robinson’s arrest, Donald Trump Jr, the president’s eldest son, for whom no bandwagon is too stupid to jump aboard, tweeted his support of Robinson citing his arrest as a cautionary tale to America: “Don’t let America follow these footsteps,” he tweeted.

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It’s unknown if the president will have time in his schedule to visit Robinson in prison, but his presence on British soil is likely to bolster the former EDL-leader’s support.

Katie Hopkins

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Katie Hopkins tweeted that she is ‘thrilled’ by Trump’s visit to ‘Londonistan’. Photograph: Warre/Silverhub/Rex/Shutterstock

Of all the rightwing polemicists dizzy with excitement about the arrival of Trump on British shores, there are surely none as blatantly sycophantic as the one-time columnist Katie Hopkins.

Her excitement is long-standing. When she first heard of the visit she declared: “A great little place I know called the rest of Britain is THRILLED to welcome Trump in July. Do not listen to the nipple-height, Muslim mayor of Londonistan. Britain needs Trump.” And on Wednesday, along with a video of Trump, she tweeted: “Dear 63 million Americans. Thank you. You voted this great man to power. Failed by our treacherous prime minister and Muslim mayor, Britain looks to you for hope. #maga”.

Dumped by the Daily Mail and LBC, Hopkins still is an occasional talking head on Fox – but while Trump did once refer to Hopkins as a “respected columnist” back in 2015, it is unclear whether she is still on his radar, or indeed if he is aware of her existence at all.



