Antiwar protest group Codepink was granted a permit to fly the balloon, but only if it is filled with ordinary air and not helium

The Donald Trump “baby blimp” will appear at a protest near the president’s Independence Day celebration in Washington on the Fourth of July – but there is diminishing hope that authorities will allow it actually to fly.

The blimp, a giant orange balloon that depicts Donald Trump crying and dressed only in a nappy, became the focal point of protests against both of his two visits to the UK.

Codepink, the direct action antiwar protest group behind the latest effort, was granted a permit to bring the blimp to Washington’s National Mall while Trump gives an address at the Lincoln memorial, to protest against the “militarization of July 4”.

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But the group has not yet received permission to fly the balloon over the president’s Fourth of July extravaganza, which will include the deployment of tanks on the mall, which stretches from the memorial to the Houses of Congress, and an extended fireworks display.

The US National Park Service granted Codepink a permit on 1 July to fly the balloon, but only if it is filled with ordinary air and not helium, which is required for it to become airborne.

The Codepink co-founder Medea Benjamin said the group has applied for a waiver from aviation authorities to fly the balloon 60cm (2ft) off the ground and said in a brief interview that they remain hopeful the request will be granted.

“We plan to fly the blimp, hopefully with helium, but if not, with air,” she said.

In a statement, Benjamin added: “It is ironic that it is right here, in the ‘land of the free’, the balloon is being grounded.”

The group has raised more than $16,000 to help cover the costs of flying the balloon.

Codepink had initially requested space near the base of the Washington Monument, opposite the Lincoln Memorial, where Trump would have been forced to view the effigy during the event. But they were only granted permission to set up in locations that will be out of Trump’s line of sight.

The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, infuriated Trump supporters by twice giving permission for the blimp to fly over the British capital during Trump’s business trip to the UK last year and his state visit last month.

Codepink’s logistics manager, Tighe Barry, added, of the Washington arrangements: “This bureaucratic process is designed to force us to just keep the baby on the ground, instead of floating it in the air. It’s ridiculous that we have to contact the Federal Aviation Administration to hoist a balloon two feet off the ground.

He added: “There is nothing dangerous about helium – there are lots of helium floats in the July 4 parade. And you certainly can’t say that a 20ft-tall balloon is going to interfere with Trump’s Air Force One.”

Air Force One and the presidential helicopter, Marine One, are expected to be part of a flamboyant display on Thursday that critics have slammed and say demonstrates weakness rather than strength in its flaunting of military might.